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Most Britons barely know the people living next door to them, according to a new survey, even though they feel better community relations could help protect their home.

More than half of householders do not even know their neighbour's name and two thirds of those surveyed feel that people in Britain are on the whole becoming less neighbourly these days.

This is in spite of the fact that nearly nine in ten feel that asking their neighbours to keep an eye on their home while they are on holiday can strongly counter the threat of burglary, according to Norwich Union's report.

Psychologist Dr Aric Stigman commented: "There was a time when whole streets of people might go on holiday together, but today even asking a neighbour to water the plants while we're away is something we shy away from.

"These days we're more inclined to keep ourselves to ourselves, whether it's to retain our own privacy or to respect that of others."

He attributed this to more people moving away from the areas they are born in, but he nonetheless endorsed the value of the communal spirit and confirmed its effectiveness as a bastion against crime.

Regionally, Londoners are surprisingly the most neighbourly people in Britain, followed by residents of the south west and of Yorkshire while, by contrast, the Welsh are the most standoffish towards people living next door.