India, following-on, needed 291 to make England bat again.

But having been 262 for three, they lost their last seven wickets for 21 runs including Sachin Tendulkar for 91 as the 'Little Master' fell short of an unprecedented 100th international hundred.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann did the bulk of the damage with six wickets for 106 runs as India were dismissed for 283 before tea.

This was the first time England, who recently replaced India as the world's top-ranked Test team, had swept a four-match series 4-0 since a clean sweep at home to the West Indies in 2004.

Brief scores:

England 591-6 dec (I Bell 235, K Pietersen 175; S Sreesanth 3-123) v India 300 (R Dravid 146 no, T Bresnan 3-54, G Swann 3-102) and 283 (S Tendulkar 91, A Mishra 84; G Swann 6-106)

Result: England won by an innings and eight runs

Series: England win four-match series 4-0

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011