Hundreds of Angus residents have signed up to a booming ”infidelity” website.
Latest user figures from IllicitEncounters.com show 556 people from the county have joined the online service, which caters for men and women looking for sex outside their relationships.
Relationship Scotland accused the site operators of wrecking marriages and exploiting women, after it emerged user numbers north of the border had rocketed from fewer than 10,000, to more than 47,000 in five years.
The charity has spent hours counselling couples whose marriages have been wrecked by affairs started online and has branded the site ”abusive”.
Established in 2003, the site offers free ”gold membership” to women but charges men up to £500 a month for its services.
Sue Maxwell, head of sexual and relationship therapy at Relationship Scotland, said she had worked with couples who separated because one of them was using the site.
She said complimentary membership for women could lead men to believing they are entitled to sex in return for their fee.
She said: ”The prices involved are shocking, but what’s even worse is that it is free to women and not to men. This makes women very vulnerable some will find it exciting and join because they don’t have to pay anything.
”But this could lead to some men seeing them as being beholden, because they believe they have paid for them.”
IllicitEncounters.com spokeswoman Rosie Freeman-Jones said: ”It seems that infidelity is truly recession-proof, with our membership base continuing grow throughout the economic downturn.
”A recession can contribute to an increase in stress, financial hardship and added work pressure, which no doubt can affect family life and relationships.”