Does being born in Britain make you 'British'? Your DNA may say otherwise

In ITV News Central's exclusive YouGov survey on Britishness, we asked what words best describe what being British means.

One of the most common answers was ‘because I was born there, or live there’, or ‘because it’s where I’m from'.

But does that necessarily mean someone is actually British in their heritage?

To find out, we've been to two quintessentially English villages to see just how British some of their residents are - Kibworth in Leicestershire, and Ombersley in Worcestershire.

Cheek swabs collect cells for DNA testing Credit: ITV News Central

We've got together a group of people in each village, for experts from Living DNA to collect and test their DNA, to see if they are genetically rooted in Britain.

DNA expert, Hannah Morden-Nicholson, says doing these kinds of tests can provide surprises for many people when they get their results.

We selected five from each group of villagers who know very little about their heritage, but believe they are essentially British.

In Kibworth, we have spoken to:

  • Nicola Porter

  • David Porter

  • Roslyn Ousey

  • Martyn Wyburn

  • Kevin Feltham

And in Ombersley, we have spoken to:

  • Claire Gathercole

  • Mike Taylor

  • John Silvester

  • Fiona Davies

  • Peter Reynolds

Find out what the results were for our volunteers on Wednesday (8th January) at 6pm on ITV News Central.