Keep your distance, say wary Brits

MOST of us feel uncomfortable when a stranger invades our personal space, but there are limits even when it comes to our loved ones, a survey found.

The average Briton feels their “comfort zone” has been encroached on when their partner comes within 43cm when they are not expecting it.

We’re a bit less tolerant in the case of friends where we set our personal space boundary at 55cm. And when it comes to strangers, we really don’t like them to come any closer than 111cm, the poll of 1 200 Britons by self-storage firm Space Station revealed.

It found that our personal space was invaded four times a day, on average.

Cardiff is the most likely place in the UK for a stranger to get too close and make us feel anxious, followed by Birmingham and London. Newcastle was the least likely place for this to happen.

One in 10 of those polled said there was never an excuse for anyone, even a partner, to invade their personal space without warning.

Elizabeth Legge, 25, a social media boss from Leeds, said: “People invading my personal space leaves me feeling really uncomfortable, whether it’s someone I know but not very well, or a complete stranger.

“Unless it is a close friend or relative, I find people invading my space intimidating and I can’t stand people being too touchy-feely in the office.”