CALL centres, bad manners, lack of respect – what makes you angry? We all have our little moans and groans, but there is guaranteed to be one thing in particular that makes our blood boil.

Most of us blame bad manners for making us see red, according to a new poll.

Failing to say “please” or “thank you” infuriated a third of those questioned for the research, by GMTV, while spitting caused a further 20 per cent to feel the anger rising.

One in 10 Britons also blamed swearing in public for getting them hot under the collar, with call centres, queue jumpers and traffic jams also whipping us into a rage. In addition, the research found half of us believe we get angrier with age, with a third saying they fly into a rage several times a week.

We took to the streets of Bournemouth to find out what makes locals’ blood boil.

Diana Foster-Williams, 66, a semi-retired consultant from Fordingbridge, said: “Lack of respect really gets me fed up. I think we’ve lost a lot of traditional values – respect for property and people.

“I think greed has driven and motivated people far more than it used to and that’s got everybody in a lot of trouble.”

Christine Whitham, 25, a sales assistant from Southbourne, said: “People that can’t drive. I’ve had a bit of that this morning. People that get in the wrong lane and don’t indicate.

“Old people think they have right of way no matter what. You get that everywhere and it really annoys me.”

Claire James, 30, a train driver from Parkstone, said: “Bad driving, especially in the summer when we get all the tourists down because they don’t know where they’re going. I drive a lot so I’m angry most of the time.

“I think bad driving is a pretty common top gripe of people’s. It’s much less stressful driving a train than driving a car.”

However, retired John Williams bucked the trend.

The 77-year-old from West Howe, said: “Not a lot makes me angry. I just let it all go over my head. I’ve always been like that. I suppose I get a little bit hot under the collar but you’ve got to accept a lot of it these days.

“There’s a lot of people about that are out of work and they get wound up if you get in their way, but life’s too short to get too angry really.”

Of course it’s no surprise that getting angry is bad for our health, affecting blood pressure and heart rate as well as our mental health.

But what can we do to keep calm? According to Boscombe-based psychotherapist Karen Ainsbury, anger is an understandable reaction when we feel we are being dismissed, ignored or insulted.

“Sometimes that feels like an attack on us and we want to fight or flight,” she explained.

“Anger is getting into the fight mode. But one of the really important things to remember is that people don’t make us angry – anger is our response. That’s good news because we then have the power to do something different.”

Karen urged people to remember that getting angry did not change what the other person had done to upset them, and that we should be looking out for ourselves rather than worrying about others’ behaviour.

She added: “I think a lot of people get very caught up in things. What you need to do is look after yourself. They key to managing your anger is rather than to look at other people, look at yourself.

“The behaviour that makes us angry is not a personal thing, it’s about the other person.”