An outbreak of zombies is a matter of when and not if, according to a former Ashford man who has written a handbook on the subject.

Sean Page, 39, claims that people – including his own parents in Willesborough – remain unprepared for an invasion of the living dead.

The former Norton Knatchbull school pupil, below, said: “With any survival technique it’s all about the preparation.

“You need to do your research and plan now – for instance where you’re going to store food and drink, how to fortify your house, and so on.

“I used my parents’ house as an example. I looked around and saw their back door and thought 'that’s horrendous; that isn’t going to stop a zombie’. You need to be looking around your home and thinking about how a zombie is going to get in.”

Mr Page claims that a decade ago, a human’s lifetime risk of developing into a zombie was one in 12, and that today it is one in nine. He says fatty foods, binge-drinking and white bread have all been linked by UK scientists to zombification.

The Official Zombie Handbook, written by the first-time author who works for multi-national catering giant Sodexo, also features a chapter on how best to deal with the menace should you be confronted.

Mr Page added: “In the book I’ve plotted some outbreaks historically to give people an idea, but with the huge growth in population and frequent air travel I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s likely to happen in the next 20 to 30 years.

“It really isn’t a question of if, but when.”

The book, published by Severed Press, is available at www.amazon.com

Mr Page will also be unveiling his book at Zombie Fest in Milton Keynes in mid-August.