England have ended their disappointing Test tour of the West Indies by sealing a thumping 232-run win on day four in St Lucia.

Joe Root's side surrendered the Wisden Trophy after defeats in Barbados and Antigua but averted a whitewash after they bowled the hosts out for 252 in pursuit of 485.

James Anderson reduced the Windies to 3-10 with a clinical new-ball spell and spinner Moeen Ali picked up three wickets of his own before Roston Chase delayed the celebrations with an unbeaten 102.

Chase brought up his ton with his team already nine wickets down.

The win in St Lucia wasn’t enough for England to avoid dropping from third to fifth in the latest ICC rankings, falling marginally behind Australia - who have jumped to fourth – and New Zealand.

The Australians made ground following their 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka earlier this month and stand to earn a $100,000 prize if they maintain fourth spot over the next six weeks.

The annual rankings cut-off is in late March with the top-ranked side at that point (currently India) to pocket a $1 million prize. The second-ranked side (currently South Africa) will win $500,000, third (currently NZ) wins $200,000 and fourth claims $100,000.

South Africa’s home series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh’s campaign in New Zealand are the remaining Tests before the cut-off date.

In St Lucia, Root had declared England's second innings in the morning on 5-361 after he fell for 122.

The successful bowler was Shannon Gabriel, later charged by the International Cricket Council for comments made to the England captain during his innings on day three.

A brilliant leaping Moeen catch at gully had Windies opener John Campbell out for no score before captain Kraigg Brathwaite was dismissed soon after for eight.

Anderson's third wicket was Darren Bravo, out for an 11-ball duck when he nicked one to Root.

Mark Wood, who picked up five wickets in the first innings, continued his outstanding match when he had Shai Hope (14) caught at cover off a leading edge just before lunch.

It was then a matter of when, not if, England would win, and they wrapped things up with more than a day to spare when Ben Stokes dismissed Keemo Paul (12) caught and bowled.

Root felt salvaging something from the tour would give England something to take into a busy summer of cricket.

“This should be a confidence booster going into a very exciting summer of cricket for us," Root told Sky Sports Cricket.

"It's been a tough tour, the West Indies outplayed us in the first two games and deserved to win the series but to bounce back is really pleasing."

ICC Test Rankings

1) India – 116 points

2) South Africa – 110

3) New Zealand – 107

4) Australia – 104

5) England – 104

6) Sri Lanka – 89

7) Pakistan – 88

8) West Indies – 77

9) Bangladesh – 69

10) Zimbabwe - 13