Brummies bottom of courtesy poll
Shop assistants were tested on their manners Brummies are the rudest people in Britain, according to a new survey.
Edinburgh came just above the Midlands city in civility ratings in a survey conducted by Readers Digest magazine.
Newcastle people were rated the most polite followed closely by those in Liverpool and then Exeter, Cardiff, London and Southampton.
Researchers visited cities across the country to check if shop assistants were courteous and to see if people held doors open.
Readers Digest editor-in-chief Katherine Walker said: "The survey shows you can't generalise about British courtesy.
Courtesy ratings
Newcastle 77%
Liverpool 70%
Exeter 63%
Cardiff 61%
London 54%
Southampton 53%
Edinburgh 48%
Birmingham 43%
"Geordies and Scousers came across as friendly, charming and polite and London, often considered to be the rudest city in Britain, had shop staff who were among the most civil in the country."
The research found that Britons overall were polite 59% of the time.
In Newcastle that figure rose to 77% with Liverpool second at 70%.
Birmingham managed to be courteous on just 43% of occasions.
Other tests included seeing if drivers thanked people who let them into rush-hour traffic. Shoppers were also tested to see if they stopped to help someone who dropped their shopping.
The north was found to be generally politer than the south and women usually more polite than men.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4362442.stm
