There's at least one civil LARS unit in middle of England which routinely says "remain outside controlled airspace" during radar hangovers and pre-notes almost every single time. They do generally accommodate transits though.
My interactions with Bristol are limited but not so long ago I was working a helicopter based just north of Bristol (PlodCopter). I phoned Bristol to pass details when Plod was on the way home, only to be told "they don't normally talk to us." I told the pilot that Bristol didn't want a handover, and he said "yeah, we don't get along."