A fifth of Britons won’t answer the door to anyone they’re not expecting, a new study has revealed.

According to research from www.Hillarys.co.uk, 46 per cent of respondents said they would only answer the door to an unexpected guest if it’s someone they want to see.

Cold callers top most people’s ‘avoid’ list, with 87 per cent saying this was the group they were most likely to ignore.

This was followed by neighbours (65 per cent), family members (25 per cent) and friends (19 per cent), with 16 per cent admitting they avoided answering the door to their partner.

The top reason given for ignoring the door was “I don’t want to deal with people trying to sell or sign me up to something” (29 per cent).

Next on the list was “I don’t want people lingering and overstaying their welcome” (24 per cent) followed by “There are certain people I don’t like to spend time with” (20 per cent).

34 per cent of people said that they simply pretend they’re not home when they don’t want to answer the door, with Halloween being the peak time for hiding out the back with the lights off.

Of the 41 per cent of people who opt not to answer the door to trick or treaters, 68 per cent said they tried to give the impression that they weren’t in.

Tara Hall, spokesperson for www.Hillarys.co.uk, said: “It’s understandable that most people don’t really want to deal with sales reps at their doorstep, but some of these figures are far more shocking – particularly turning down friends and family!”