Everybody needs good neighbours: Wolverhampton residents voted among best in UK

But instead of being called miserable or one of the worst cities in the country to live, Wolverhampton has been rated as having some of the best neighbours in the UK.

Walsall-based insurer HomeServe ran a UK-wide study into neighbours, and found that some of the best live in Wolverhampton.

The city ranked fifth on the list, beating the likes of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh.

Wolverhampton council leader Roger Lawrence, who has previously been very outspoken on surveys that have criticised the city and painted it in a negative light, was encouraged by the positive results.

He said: "It's great to see Wolverhampton portrayed in a positive light and it finally puts to bed the lies that we have seen from previous surveys."

Wolverhampton were beaten on the list by Swansea, Chester, Dundee and Preston, which topped the list with the best neighbours.

HomeServe's research involved asking more than 2,000 people in a nationwide poll just how well they get on with their neighbours.

They found that the perfect neighbour is most likely to live in a house rather than a flat, is good at DIY, is 100 per cent reliable in an emergency, is trustworthy and is very sociable with their neighbours.

HomeServe also found that the best traits for a neighbour to have is trust, friendliness, helpfulness, being considerate and being vigilant.

John Greaves, the brand director at HomeServe, said: "We like to do things differently at HomeServe, which is why we wanted to focus on the positives and show that – despite what other surveys might say – we are a nation of happy neighbours who go out of their way to help make life easier for each other, just like we do for our customers.

"It seems Wolverhampton, in particular, is full of happy neighbours.

"We hear stories every day from our engineers across the UK about the examples of neighbourliness they've seen and we wanted to uncover what qualities set those really great neighbours apart, and celebrate our community spirit."

A survey published last month said that Wolverhampton was the most miserable place to live in the UK and was the least prosperous.

This is on top of another survey that was published in August that said that it was the most miserable place in the West Midlands, as property website Rightmove ranked it at 102 out of 130 places in the country for happiness.