Most Brits have NO IDEA what their neighbours look like, according to major poll

A major new poll has found that most Brits wouldn’t be able to pick out their own neighbours in a police line-up.

Despite our physical proximity, an astonishing four out of five Brits have no idea what the people we live next door to look like.

Some 83% of the 4,000 people who took part in the YouGov poll said they would not be able to pick out their neighbours in a police station identification parade.

In London, one in 10 people say they would be able to recognise their neighbours – a world away from Northern Ireland, where only one in 50 do not know the people living around them.

The survey, commissioned by The Big Lunch, a lottery-funded project that aims to encourage people to socialise with their neighbours, also found that Brits treat work colleagues more like their actual neighbours.

Six out of ten said they had a strong bond with colleagues while less than half, 45, said they had a sense of belonging in the neighbourhood where they live.

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The researchers said social media and people living their life on smartphones has contributed towards a breakdown in the quality of human interactions.

Big Lunch spokesman Peter Stewart said: ‘The research shows how much potential there is for people to get to know their neighbours better, replacing anonymous neighbourhoods with closer ties and stronger communities.’

The Big Lunch project aims to get more than nine million people to sit down with neighbours for Sunday lunch on June 3.