THE three-date rule is a thing of the past - couples are having sex for the first time even quicker in West Yorkshire, according to a new survey.

The average number of dates before sex happens has gone down from three to 2.5 times in the last 10 years.

More than half of singles (54%) said they would sleep with a new partner on the first date if the chemistry was right.

If the deadline is extended to the second date, then almost two-thirds (63%) would have expected to have sex in a new relationship by then.

Only 24% of singles think you should wait until the third date before sleeping with someone new.

Less than one in 10 (9%) think you should wait longer than three dates before consummating a new relationship.

The results were revealed in a new survey of 2,000 people including those in West Yorkshire by IllicitEncounters.com, the UK’s leading affairs site.

It found that 84% of those questioned would happily have a relationship with someone who had slept with them on the first date.

Two-thirds (64%) said they were more likely to sleep with a new partner more quickly because of the way dating had changed in the last decade.

Three-quarters (74%) said that dating apps and websites had made meeting a new partner ‘more competitive’ and that heightened choice made sex more available.

The vast majority of those questioned (82%) said that the three-date rule was ‘out-of-date’’ and it was wrong to set a time limit before having sex.

Jessica Leoni, IllicitEncounters.com sex and relationship, said: “The old three-date rule, whereby new couples were supposed to wait three dates before having sex to show that they are not ‘easy’, seems so old-fashioned these days when the whole dating scene has gone digital and been completely transformed.

“Who really wants to wait that long for sex when you can go on five new dates in a week?

“Couples in West Yorkshire are deciding to go for it straight away if the chemistry is right.

“I think the whole Covid-19 crisis will accelerate this process. When social distancing stops and regular dating resumes, you are going to see lots more couples having sex on the first date.

“We will have all lived through the worst crisis since the Second World War and daters will want to seize the moment more and not hang about when it comes to sex.”