I'm not from the UK but I found this thread interesting... to say the least.
I'm sorry, TS41, that you've had such a negative experience with meeting/talking with people on here and I can see how it can give you a bit of a jaded perspective of the interactions on here.
I think it's a good indicator that you might want to invest some time into your profile, I checked it out and it doesn't have any information about you at all nor have you made very many posts here. If you are looking for particular things from the people you interact with, it's in your best interest to put it on your profile so you have a better chance of weeding out people you're not compatible with. Aside from this thread, there is no indication of what you're looking for on here or how you want to be approached.
I hope you can find what you're looking for eventually. Best of luck!