by Martin Jeffries

DNA paternity test kits will go on sale at Boots stores across Kent today just months after they were launched at three pharmacies in the county.

The over-the-counter test means men will be able to take a swab and send it off for analysis to prove whether a child is really theirs.

They have been available at a handful of pharmacies in Medway since last September.

Sales of the kits at Marshlands in Wainscott, Higham and Cliffe Woods are said to increase at a rate of between 10 and 15 per cent every month.

Ketan Agravat, head of commercial operations at Medipharmacy Group, which runs the three pharmacies, said: "For a new diagnostics testing line, that's very, very good and is similar to the demand we saw when blood pressure monitors, pregnancy test kits and glucose testing equipment were introduced.

"Paternity testing is one of several DNA-based services which will become available in the UK over the coming years.

"We're already starting to consider providing genetic tests which would allow a person to know whether they are a carrier of a particular gene, such as breast cancer."

The test requires samples to be taken from the mouth of the mum, dad and child.

The swabs are then sent off to labs including Edenbridge-based International Biosciences, which produces results from kits sold at Medipharmacy Group's pharmacies.

Anyone over the age of 16 years old will be able to purchase test kits from Boots.

They will be priced at £29.99, plus a £129 processing fee.