WHEN it comes to community spirit and good neighbours, you can't beat Bolton.

Because, in spite of a new survey which reveals that more than half of people in Britain do not even know their neighbour's name, friendship is on offer all over the borough.

The town has already been voted the friendliest in the country, and Cllr Noel Spencer - chairman of Bolton at Home which looks after the area's council property - insists that neighbourly spirit is still alive and well and living locally.

"It may be true about many other places around the country, but, in Bolton, I think that people do still care about each other and are friendly to their neighbours," he said.

Cllr Spencer was brought up in Deane on a new council estate. "It was the time of slum clearance and many people moved out of the town centre. I don't know whether it was by design or not, but whole areas moved together so we knew all our neighbours."

Although a more mobile and transient population today means that this closeness is less, Cllr Spencer believes that it still thrives in many areas. "I know of plenty of estates where someone will pop round to talk to new neighbours," he said.

And nowhere is it more in evidence than in the Captain's Clough area of Smithills.

Here, within just a quarter of a mile radius, there is a thriving residents' association of almost 150 people of all ages who meet regularly and go on outings.

At its heart is 70-year-old chairman Mona Bertwistle who helped form it 14 years ago. Mrs Bertwistle, of Ingledene Grove, is the first round if anyone is ill, and calls daily to check on elderly residents. She grew up in the Oxford Grove area of Bolton. "You could leave your doors open then and there was no problem," she said. "Although it's not like that today, there is still plenty of community spirit around. People do watch out for each other."

And she knows the names of not just near-neighbours, but all her neighbours. "Barbara and Carl Whittaker next door are real friends of ours," she explained. "We often go into each other's houses on a Saturday night for potato pie or go out together."

She has lived in the area for 20 years and, when new people arrive, she always goes round to welcome them. "It's what neighbours do, isn't it?" she insisted.

And being a good neighbour can also cut crime. Westhoughton Police Community Support Officer Stephen Howard said: "It does help when neighbours bring in someone's wheelie bin or push the papers through when they're on holiday. Residents get together more here now, and there's real community spirit."