French chefs, step away from the oven and put down the saucepans – the British are taking over in the kitchen.

Britons now cook a wider range of dishes and spend longer in the kitchen than the French, according to a BBC survey.

And cooking experts in Leicestershire agree more people in the county are donning their aprons and oven gloves, many inspired by TV chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Heston Blumenthal.

Ellie Hall, who co-owns the Original Cookware Company, in St Martins Square, Leicester, said that in the three years she has run the shop, customer numbers have risen dramatically.

She said: "Cooking is more a hobby now for people rather than a means to an end, and that is increasing all the time.

"The interest is a reflection of the increase in the amount of shows on the TV, and as TV chefs get more adventurous so do our customers."

Results gathered by BBC Olive magazine, in collaboration with French title Madame Figaro, show the British have a more worldly approach to eating, with 72% regularly cooking Italian food compared to just 41% of the French.

According to the survey, Britons are pending longer in the kitchen than the French, however, the French tend to produce more, with 47% preparing two courses compared with 18% of Britons.

It would appear that more time in the kitchen is also leading would-be chefs to hone their skills on cookery courses.

Jill Vickers runs the Bridge Sixty Seven Cookery school, near Smeeton Westerby. When she started four years ago, she had about eight students a month. Now, she attracts about 30 a month and is building a £150,000 extension to her teaching kitchen.

She said: "I think there is a plethora of people who missed out on domestic sciences at school and a lot of those people are realising they need to be able to cook to look after themselves and their families. Everywhere you look, there are cookery programmes, and it is cheaper to cook than go out or eat takeaways."

The survey found the French remain more confident in their cooking ability, awarding themselves an average of six out of 10, compared with Britons who rate themselves 5.6 out of 10.

While Britons specialise in bread, the French are superior at jointing chickens and souffles.

The switch in habits is one that French-born chef Yves Ogrodzki, who runs the Fox Inn, in Thorpe Satchville, blames as much on French egotism and chain restaurants flooding his homeland as the awakening of the British appetite for home-cooked food.

He said: "The French can be big-headed about their cooking and they do not want to try other people's cuisine.

"What is happening in Britain is similar to how it was in France 25 years ago, but, sadly, that excitement has been lost in France."