Famous author Bill Bryson has revealed that he became a British subject in a ceremony held in Winchester.

The American-born author of best sellers Notes from a Small Island about his travels around the UK, The Lost Continent and A Short History of Nearly Everything, told an audience at the Write On Kew literary festival he became British citizen last November.

Bryson revealed he had not taken the step earlier after living in the UK for 20-years because he was afraid he might fail the test required to become a British subject.

“I was always too cowardly to do it ... you have to know how many MPs there are. Nobody knows that!”

Born in Iowa in the United States, Bryson was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before returning to America in 1995. In 2003 Bryson and his wife and four children moved back to Britain, living in, Norfolk, and he served as chancellor of Durham University from 2005 through 2011. Hew as awarded an honorary OBE in 2006.