14 hours Ago By The Independent
Who among us isn’t guilty of being a bit too nosy when it comes to our neighbours ? It’s natural when we live in close proximity to the petty dramas of each other’s lives. Whether it’s a door slamming shut after an argument or curiosity about how they funded their new extension, it’s human nature to want to know a little bit more, to piece together the puzzle that makes up these polite and civil side characters in our lives. Now, new research has confirmed what we all knew: the UK is a nation of “curtain-twitchers”.
But it’s not just nosiness but contempt for our neighbours that’s driving our curiosity. One in twelve (8 per cent) Brits openly admit to spying on their neighbours because they don’t like them, according to research by curtain’s specialists Hillarys and Censuswide. That means 4.
5 million people in the UK despise their neighbours so much they’re driven to snoop. Men are worse than women when it comes to curtain twitching over feuds, with 8 per cent admitting to spying with a neighbour they’re in a dispute with, compared to just 5 per cent of women. Grudges are most likely to brew in the North East of England with 15 per cent of the 2,000 adults surveyed admitting that they’re feuding with a neighbour.
But tension is just as high in Manchester, with one in six (15 per cent) admitting to spying, with Sheffield and Newcastle close behind with 13 per cent respectively. The age range most likely to be petty and hold a grudge against their neighbours are 25 to 35 year olds. But in their defence, curtain-twitchers may have valid reasons for their activity.
For example, 10 per cent of Brits admit they spy because they don’t trust their neighbours, nine per cent do so for gossip , while an interesting 6 per cent spy to keep a tab on their neighbours’ shopping habits. However, more serious reasons include the one in 20 Brits who admit to spying out of fear that their partner is having an affair, and the same amount do so because of missing parcels that they suspect their nehbours are stealing. One in twenty are slightly creepy romantics, who admit to spying because they have a secret crush.
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