London is the least neighbourly place to live in the UK, new research has revealed.
Sixty-eight per cent of people in the capital said they did not know their neighbour well or at all, according to research commissioned by Nextdoor, a social network which aims to link people living in the same area.
Londoners were also the least confident about a parcel being left with a neighbour with about 64 per cent saying they would choose not to.
The West Midlands, Wales and Yorkshire were found to be the most neighbourly areas of the country, according to the study.
Former Downing Street adviser Max Chambers, who helped to launch the Nextdoor social network in the UK, said: “The research we publish today reveals the UK is in danger of sleepwalking towards the slow death of our neighbourhoods and the results are even more pronounced in London.”
Across the UK overall, 60 per cent said they would not feel able to borrow a cup of sugar from their neighbours, while three-quarters of those surveyed said they would not let a neighbour look after their pet while on holiday.
The 18-24-year-old age group were found to be the loneliest in their communities.
The research was published as Mr Chambers helped to launch a campaign to encourage people to have a cup of tea and a chat with people in their area.
The “share a cuppa” pledge is being launched by the social network Nextdoor, Neighbourhood Watch and social cohesion charity The Challenge.
Mr Chambers, who worked as an aide to David Cameron, warned that the internet meant people were globally connected but “losing touch with those immediately around us”.
The organisations called on the Government to follow the examples of the United States and Australia by creating an official national Good Neighbours Day in 2018.
Mr Chambers, who left Downing Street to help launch the neighbourhood-level social network Nextdoor in the UK, said: “While we are ever more connected globally through the internet, we are losing touch with those immediately around us, and it was clear to us in government that the warning lights are flashing when it comes to social cohesion, isolation and feelings of belonging.”
Dame Louise Casey, who wrote a report on social integration for the Government in 2016, said: “The recent tragic events this country has suffered, from terrorist attacks to the Grenfell Tower disaster, have shown just how powerful the public can be when we pull together, united in the common good to protect and care for each other.
“We have been trying to fix the issues of community cohesion and social capital for a long time.
“Government and public services will always have a role in this but it is the public, residents and families, first and foremost who are in the best position to knit that social fabric together.
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