There is an increasing number of people of Indian origin entering in relationships with white partners, prompting a new study to conclude that in future some ethnic groups may well disappear.

One in 10 children in Britain now lives in a mixed-race family, which raises the prospect of a non-racist Britain, according to the study conducted at the University of Essex.

It says that mixed-race relationships are now so common that some ethnic groups -- starting with African-Caribbean -- will virtually disappear in future, the research states.

Half of all men in Britain who have Caribbean heritage and are in a relationship already have partners of a different race.

The same is true of one in five black African men, one in 10 Indian men and women and two out of five Chinese women, The Observer reported on Sunday.

Young people are six times more likely to be mixed-race as adults. Experts believe the findings mean that future generations "will not see race in the way we see it".

Lucinda Platt, author of the report and an academic at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Essex University, describes the shift towards a mixed-race Britain as 'dramatic'.

The study shows that 9 per cent of children are of 'mixed or multiple heritage' -- that is, they live with parents from different ethnic groups, or they are themselves of mixed ethnicity.

Over the past 14 years the number of children of Caribbean heritage with one white parent has risen from 39 per cent to 49 per cent. Among the Indian population it has increased from 3 per cent to 11 per cent, for Pakistanis from 1 per cent to 4 per cent, and for Chinese from 15 per cent to 35 per cent.