A UK-based dating site claims that it has found the ultimate cure for the universally-feared '7 Year Itch' - an extra-marital affair.

IllicitEncounters.com, a website that provides a platform for married people looking for more, has found that over 40% of its members felt the urge to leave their partner following 7 years of marriage - but managed to keep their relationship stable by taking a lover.

678 men and women from the site were surveyed in total. Those who joined to relieve their 7 Year Itch reported that their new extra-marital relationship helped them to cure it. Of the total respondents, 74% are still with the long-term partner they were with when they joined the site.

Spokesperson for IllicitEncounters.com Sara Hartley comments, "Many of our members said that it was after 7 years of marriage that they began to lose interest."

"But a great deal of respondents agreed that by joining IE, they were able to pull their marriage back from the brink. It is rather taboo to discuss the subject of infidelity in a postive light, but, throughout our research, we have seen that extra-marital relations are not always the end of a relationship - in fact, they can sometimes bring about a new beginning."

Speaking to IllicitEncounters last month, West End sex guru Wolfgang Weinberger explained how he believes affairs are "only a bad thing if they are found out". "Men and women ... are programmed to have affairs." He continued, "Sometimes, they can have invigorating effects on a relationship gone stale."

This week, IllicitEncounters.com awaits the arrival of its 400,000th member, who will receive free lifetime membership to the site.