David Cameron has told small businesses that thousands of rules and regulations are to be softened or scrapped completely.

Speaking at a conference put on by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) the prime minister promised action on more than 3,000 rules in a bid to save businesses £850 million a year.

In an example of the planned changes, by March 2015 80,000 pages of environmental guidance will be ripped from the annuls of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mr Cameron earlier told the BBC’s Today Programme that his would be the first government in recent memory to end a term with less regulation than it did at the beginning.

Other measures promised today included a £1.1 billion drop in business rates, broadband vouchers to help businesses get online and growth funding worth £2,000 each for 20,000 promising firms.