Politeness is alive and well in Trowbridge, according to a study which assessed the manners of people in the county town.

The town was visited by researchers from the Young Foundation as they prepared the Charm Offensive report, which came out this week.

By observing people interacting, and interviewing shopkeepers, taxi drivers, bus drivers and receptionists, the study found that Britain is one of the politest societies in the world, with very high value placed on civility.

The news came as no surprise to Ally Fox, who runs Trowbridge Schoolwear in St Georges Works. She said: “I think the manners of people in Trowbridge are unusually good. When I’ve dealt with the children from Clarendon they’ve all been absolutely lovely. The people of Trowbridge might not be the poshest, but they do know how to keep on generally. I find my customers are lovely, it’s one of the reasons I set up my company here.

As well as Trowbridge the researchers also visited Devizes and Salisbury, Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, and Newham in London. The study found that experience of politeness shapes how people feel about their areas and social health more than crime statistics.

The research in Wiltshire – which has an above average proportion of over-65s – found that the general view was that young people are troublesome and ruder, but younger interviewees felt that they were often on the receiving end of rudeness.

PC Jade Coupland, of Trowbridge Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “It’s only a small percentage of people that we deal with who are causing anti-social behaviour, most people are very polite in general.

“We have a lot of young people at Studley Green youth centre who are very polite, they always say hello and offer us a drink when we go in.”

The research found that by some standards behaviour is better than a generation or two ago.

Kim Petrie, who runs Roses 2 sandwich shop in Church Street, said: “In general everyone is polite. You get the odd one or two coming in on their phones. One thing I have noticed is people say ‘keep the change’ now, five years ago no-one said it. Manners don’t cost a penny.”

Lance Allan, Trowbridge town clerk, said: “I’ve found the people of Trowbridge very polite, they’re wonderful people. I think the people of Trowbridge are very proud of what they’ve got.”