Ipswich is a kinder place than Norwich, according to research carried out for Coca Cola.

The survey results, released to coincide the visit of the soft drink giant's Christmas truck to the city today, asked 2,500 people on the truck's tour route five questions to gauge how kind they are.

Ipswich came top of the 'kindness hotspot' list for the number of people who regularly volunteer or donate to charity.

Suffolk's county town was second to Ely for overall kindness, third for people giving food or money to the homeless, and third for people leaving a thank you present or tip for their bin man, milk man or paper boy.

In contrast, Norwich failed to make the top 20 for any of the measures of kindness examined, in contrast to cities as far apart as Brighton, York, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Brid Drohan-Stewart from Coca-Cola said: 'The Coca-Cola Christmas truck is a highlight of the festive season for a lot of people, and what better place to spread Christmas cheer than Norwich which is embodying what Christmas is all about. Keep up the good deeds Norwich!'

Hundreds of people had their photograph taken with the multi-national's Christmas lorry when it visited the Intu Chapelfield Shopping Centre today, where a choir sang carols as elves served chilled Coca Cola.

The company said that 47pc of people from Norwich would invite an elderly neighbour or relative for Christmas if they knew they were going to be alone, while a postman said he worked late to ensure a Christmas present was delivered on Christmas Eve, and another person said they said Merry Christmas to everyone they passed.

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