Barking has been named the unfriendliest place in the UK — and some long-term residents of the “miserable” east London town say the label feels painfully familiar.
One grandmother told Our News Outlet that if she collapsed in the street, she would be more likely to expect being robbed than helped, adding that the best advice was to “keep yourself to yourself”.
The wider London borough of Barking and Dagenham received the unwelcome title in a new study based on government data from a community life survey.
The area has produced a striking list of famous names, including football greats Sir Alf Ramsey, Bobby Moore and John Terry from Barking, as well as EastEnders actor Ross Kemp, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg and Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Dagenham’s roll call of well-known figures includes Sandie Shaw, who once worked as a clerk at the Ford Dagenham car plant before winning Eurovision, alongside comedy icon Dudley Moore and television personality Stacey Solomon.
But despite that proud history, residents say Barking and Dagenham has been slipping backwards. While some still speak warmly of the borough and its potential, others believe the bleak assessment rings true.
The report looked at measures including how often people speak to their neighbours, levels of loneliness, pride in the local area and how much residents take part in civic life.
After Barking and Dagenham, the next places on the “unfriendly” ranking are Stoke-on-Trent, followed by Ashfield and Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, with Ipswich placed 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 Our News Outlet 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.’
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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.’
