The offer of a free £1,000 in cash would be met with a 'no thanks mate' from a third of people in Britain's most suspicious city.
Manchester has taken the title, with Mancunians most likely to think something is amiss if they're offered something for free.
Three quarters of Brits admit they’re looking for a catch instantly when offered something for nothing, a poll by Betfair Casino has found, with suspicious Brits claiming they would snub anything from a free cup of coffee (28%), a new car (29%) or a bunch of flowers (24%).
People were even more sceptical when it came to the offer of free money, with 26% insisting they’d say no to £1,000, rising to a third for those in Manchester.
Mancunians are overall the most suspicious in the country with 29% saying they would be very sceptical of any freebie, followed by Liverpool, Leeds, London and Glasgow which make up the top five sceptical cities in the UK.
UK’s most sceptical cities
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Leeds
- Glasgow
- London
- Bristol
- Belfast
- Norwich
- Edinburgh
- Newcastle
A free sandwich, new car and Smart TV were the items that most people would refuse if they were offered a freebie, closely followed by coffee, clothes and cash.
There are many reasons why Brits are so reluctant to accept a freebie, ranging from a belief there will be strings attached to the gift (52%), that they’d be expected to do something in return (33%) or that the gift itself would be shoddy or suspect (15%).
Scepticism appears to be a badge of honour in modern Britain, with residents of every city surveyed in the poll of 2,000 people insisting their hometown was the most questioning of all.
Whether or not you'd realise you're in a city of suspicious people when visiting Manchester isn't completely clear, given its reputation for friendliness.
Last year Manchester was voted the second friendliest city in the world, with a rating of 74% - losing to Glasgow in first and beating Dublin into third in a Time Out ranking.
If you do want to go and explore the city for yourself, then it will cost you a little more now than last summer, after the city brought in the UK's first tourist tax.
