"I'm related to Alfred the Great", says hospital porter

When most people trace back their family tree, the most they can hope to find is the odd duke and, if they are lucky, an infamous criminal.

But when a hospital porter from Essex trawled through his 12,000-name history, he found a rather more impressive lineage.

Jon Blackmore, from Shoeburyness, believes he is a direct descendant of Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror.

The 47-year-old, who works at Southend Hospital, said it had taken him about 28 years to compile the family tree and cost more than £30,000.

The family tree dates back to 519AD. Jon said as well as discovering Alfred the Great was his 34th great-grandfather, he found Henry VII was a distant cousin and William I was his 27th great-grandfather.