Image caption Gardeners in London were most likely to get rid of snails over the neighbour's fence

A fifth of British gardeners have thrown snails over their neighbour's fence, according to a survey.

Some 22% of people questioned for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said they had tossed a snail into their neighbour's garden, compared with 78% who said they had not.

Londoners were the worst culprits, with 30% admitting they had done it.

Gardeners in Scotland were least likely, where 14% admitted they had thrown a snail over a garden fence.

Snails and slugs and are regarded as the most common garden pest by gardeners, according to the RHS.

'Wet weather'

The survey of more than 1,500 people found that 80% will head into their gardens this Easter to tackle spring jobs.

It found 70% of men plan to mow the garden lawn, compared with 57% of women.

Guy Barter, head of advisory at the RHS, said gardeners have enjoyed a "great start" to spring following a "challenging" start to the season last year..

He said many gardeners have been busy improving their gardens after a wet and windy winter.

"In March at the RHS we had record calls to our advisory team and answered over 6,000 gardening questions," Mr Barter said.

"Most of the questions have been about pruning trees and shrubs, particularly those damaged by winter gales, and dealing with lawns rich in moss and with sparse grass, in this case a consequence of prolonged wet weather."