What's Your Number: You should not exceed this number of sex partners

It is very likely that men would expect their partners to have had sex with less partners than he has, but is there a golden number? According to a new study, there is.

There has been quite a few arguments regarding how many sex partners is 'acceptable' by both genders.

It is very likely that men would expect their partners to have had sex with less partners than he has, but is there a golden number? According to a new study, there is.

Ten is the ideal number of lovers to have had for both men and women, researchers have claimed.

More than 1,000 people took part in the online survey for Britain's biggest extra-marital dating site IllicitEncouters.com, being asked how many lovers they would want a new partner to have had.

Between eight and 12 was the most popular answer, chosen by 38 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men.

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The poll suggests those who had more than 10 sexual partners were considered promisculous, while having fewer than 10 would be considered sexually inexperienced.

It also found men in particular are more wary of women who had a higher score than 10. Any number above 20 was considered a turn-off.

People were also asked if they wanted to know how many lovers a new partner had in the past - 35 per cent of women said they wanted to know a man's total, while 30 per cent of men wanted to know a woman's sexual history.

So what does this say about our approach to sex?

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Christian Grant, a spokesman for IllicitEncounters.com, said: "The dating game is changing so quickly.

"I think we are all becoming a lot more tolerant and sexually adventurous.

"If we had conducted this poll ten years ago, men would have expected a potential partner to have slept with far fewer people."