It has just been branded the unfriendliest place in the UK – and people living for years in the ‘miserable’ east London town of Barking say they agree.
One grandmother told the Daily Mail she expected not to be helped but instead robbed, should she collapse – and advised others to best ‘keep yourself to yourself’.
The London borough of Barking and Dagenham has the unenviable ranking in a new study drawing on government data from a community life survey.
The area might have given the world football stars such as Barking’s Sir Alf Ramsey, Bobby Moore and John Terry as well as EastEnders actor Ross Kemp, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg and Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Meanwhile, Dagenham’s celebrity count includes former Ford Dagenham car plant clerk and later Eurovision winner Sandie Shaw, comedy legend Dudley Moore and TV personality Stacey Solomon.
Yet locals suggest Barking and Dagenham is on the decline – and while some still have hope and pride for the area, others agree with the gloomy new findings.
This latest report measures how often people chat to neighbours, how lonely they feel, local pride and levels of participation in civic life.
Next up, in order, on the ‘unfriendly’ list are Stoke-on-Trent, then Ashfield and Mansfield – both in Nottinghamshire – before Ipswich in fifth.
The London borough of Barking and Dagenham has been named the least friendly place in the UK – and residents and traders in Barking, with one of its main streets shown, are unhappy
Others, however, have spoken about the positive elements Barking does have to offer – with stores such as this still trading on the streets
In contrast, the friendliest place in England was named as the Isles of Scilly, followed by South Hams in Devon, then West Devon, Derbyshire Dales and Richmond-upon Thames in south-west London.
The labelling of Barking came as little surprise to Martha Davis, a grandmother in her late 60s who has lived there for 28 years but spoke of its downturn – and her fears.
She said: ‘Absolutely it’s unfriendly. They spit in your face rather than talk to you.
‘Keep yourself to yourself – best thing to do in Barking.
‘I’m in and out, I wouldn’t spend the whole day here. There are pickpockets – the place is dying.
‘It’s terrible. I feel unsafe. People are so miserable. If I collapsed I think someone would rob me.’
While many the Daily Mail spoke to spoke up for their area, plenty criticised ‘miserable’ and uncommunicative residents for hardly helping its feel and reputation.
The unfriendliness findings come from an Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion study using data from the Government’s Community Life Survey.
Barking has plenty of history – and famous names born and bred there – though there are concerns amid its main high streets and surrounding areas about more ‘miserable’ people
The area scored eight out of 100 on the National Conversation’s ‘connection barometer’.
Ten per cent of locals say they feel lonely ‘often or always’ and only 21 per cent said they could trust their neighbours.
It is a view shared on the street where residents fear being spat on or attacked.
Omar Mukhtar, 40, who has been in Barking for 23 years, said: ‘It depends on your aura.
‘You can interact with anyone. People are approachable – they could smash your face but also ask for directions.’
Local resident Faysal Khan, who has lived in Barking for six years, said: ‘Yes and no on whether it’s unfriendly.
‘It depends on the person basically. People are chatty, every kind of people you find in Barking. Some people are good as gold.
‘I go with the flow – I just try and listen to others instead of debating.’
Barking resident Omar Mukhtar, 40, told of the contrasts in how people you approach behave
Cafe worker Sally O’Brien, 44, said: ‘Our customers are lovely, but the average person out there isn’t.
‘There’s a fear of what might happen. People are rude and obnoxious.
‘The community has gone as well really. People don’t know each other. It’s a lost area.
‘People don’t even smile. They constantly spit out there or they’re on their phones.
‘Our cafe is very friendly but being out there is like another world.’
Martin Whitting, 44, who has run an ice cream van in Barking for several years, said in response to people in Barking being unfriendly: ‘It depends really. If they can speak English and communicate, then it’s a good community.
‘There’s lots of drugs and that’s the trouble. It’s a nice place but a bit unpredictable. You never know what you’ll get.’
Janice, a woman in her 40s, said: ‘It’s just weird – Some people are polite but everywhere I go it is bad mental health: Barking is bad for mental health. People don’t smile. They don’t speak.’
Ice cream van man Martin Whitting called Barking ‘nice’ yet also ‘a bit unpredictable’
Adnan Tariq, a shopkeeper in Barking for 14 years, said: ‘Maybe yes, maybe no. I’m not going to say everyone is horrible.
‘If you walk around, you’ll see yourself people are nice.
‘What you hear and what you see are different – I’m pretty sure there are worse areas than Barking.
‘Barking used to be a bit trickier but a few years passed by and it’s getting better now.
‘There used to be gangs, but they’ve removed bad council estates and they’ve cleaned up Barking.’
Dave Parsons, 45, a delivery driver, felt people were often rude, adding: ‘I think it’s the area that gets people down. They probably don’t think they’ve done well if they’re here.
‘I get a lot of people who simply don’t say thank you – it’s sad really but I am used to it now.’
The National Conversation is run by the Conservative ex-Home Secretary Sir Sajid Javid and former Labour policy coordinator Jon Cruddas – himself a former MP for Dagenham between 2001 and 2024.
Adnan Tariq, a shopkeeper in Barking for 14 years, spoke up for the town – insisting it had improved in recent years and he was ‘pretty sure there are worse areas’
Organisers say it aims to help better understand the country’s state of connection and cohesion to create a vision for how people can live well together.
The foreword from its first report published last year claimed that ‘communal life in Britain is under threat’ due to declining infrastructure and institutions, a loss in trust in those institutions, growing inequality and chronic neglect from policymakers.
It also identified threats causing social disconnection such as the mismanagement of immigration, cost of living pressures and social media-driven extremism.
The commission warned the results show that the UK was ‘sitting on a tinderbox of disconnection and division’.
Mr Cruddas said: ‘I nearly choked on my cornflakes when my old area came rock bottom.
‘I think government stats miss a lot of what really makes an area tick, including my old town.
‘But that’s why we have developed it, to spark a conversation – because what we really want is your view on your area.’
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