The image portrayed by TV documentaries paints a picture of constant disputes with 'them next door'. The reality is very different though. According to a new survey, a quarter of us think that life is more like Coronation Street than Neighbours from Hell.

Your Home magazine and mortgage and savings provider Birmingham Midshires teamed up to find out what really goes on in the suburbs. In an age where we continuously hear of disappearing communities, it appears that most of us are actually rather content with life on our own street.

• The Neighbours survey, conducted in September 2001, found that Britons could give Aussie soap Neighbours a run for its money:
• 81 percent of people met their new neighbours in the first few weeks of moving into their new home.
• 93 percent either chat to their neighbours regularly or make an effort to be friendly.
• 74 percent of people would let their neighbours undertake a Changing Rooms-style makeover on their house.
• 66 percent would trust their neighbour to look after their homes, but just 46 percent would let them look after their pets!
• Nearly a third - 32 percent - would trust their children with the neighbours.
• A massive 78 percent of us would trust our neighbours with a spare key for our homes.

Commenting on the survey, Paul Fincham, spokesperson for Birmingham Midshires, said: "The survey is a light-hearted look at our lives today. It's great to see that, in general, we are happy with where we call home and the community spirit is still alive and well."

Life really is a soap opera for many of us, according to the survey. One in four people who took part thought that Coronation Street best reflects their own street. One in five thought Neighbours was closer to the mark and a tiny one in ten thought Eastenders was most like life on their street. Dot Cotton has been spotted alive and well on most streets in the UK. 22 percent of people who took part in the survey claimed that they have someone just like her twitching the net curtains in their street.

When asked which celebrity they would most like to live next door to, nearly a quarter of respondents (22 percent) chose Jamie Oliver, 16 percent chose Graham Norton and 13 percent want the talents of Nigella Lawson on their doorstep. The feuding Gallagher brothers from Oasis ranked highly as nightmare celebrity neighbours (40 percent), followed by lovebirds DJ Chris Evans and singer Billie Piper (19 percent). Ten percent of those surveyed waved goodbye to Anne Robinson as the weakest link to neighbourly happiness.

So, what will annoy the neighbours? It's still the time honoured favourites such as pets fouling in other peoples gardens (39 percent) closely followed by noisy late night parties (35 percent) which will brand the perpetrator the neighbour from hell!

Sue Rose, editor of Your Home magazine, said: "I was heartened to find that, far from being isolated in our individual castles, we British actually get on well with our neighbours, by and large, and trust them too. When so many of us live so far from the traditional support network of relatives, neighbours can become our surrogate family. Yes, they irritate the hell out of you sometimes but when you need them, they are there for you."