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Stereotype or not, Londoners are famed for their frostiness, from diverting all eye-contact and avoiding talking to anyone on the tube to knowing nothing about our own neighbours. Now, a new study appears to have cemented these conceptions, naming London the least friendly city in UK.
A survey from Provident Personal Credit asked 2,642 people on a scale from one to ten how they felt about their local area. Londoners managed a pretty measly rating of 6.44 out of 10 for friendliness, beating Oxford (6.45), Portsmouth (6.51) and Chelmsford (6.58) to the not-so-coveted spot of the most unfriendly city in the UK. They've even put the findings in a handy interactive map, so you can easily see where in the UK you're more likely to get an apathetic glance than hug from a stranger.
Still, London’s score is a mild improvement on last year’s friendliness rating of just 6.39, but still miles behind York – the friendliest place in the UK, according to the survey – which scored 7.47. The capital also lagged behind in the survey's other categories including politeness, how welcoming people are, safety, trust, happiness, area upkeep and, er, gossip – ranking in the bottom ten in each.
Maybe it’s time to make those ‘Tube Chat’ badges a thing, or start interacting with our neighbours more – and not just to ask them to turn their crappy music down.
In other news, London also has the worst recycling rates in the country.
But at least it's no longer the most expensive city in the world.