Website for cheaters has following in Rotorua

A new website designed to help people cheat on their partners claims to have more than 800 people in Rotorua registered.

European-based dating website Victoria Milan helps people find and develop extramarital affairs and has a total of three million members that span over 30 countries worldwide.

It claims to have 15,000 Kiwi members, with a staggering 850 members registered as being from Rotorua.

Of those from Rotorua, 37 per cent of the users registered are women and 63 per cent are men.

Victoria Milan founder, Sigurd Vedal, claimed the purpose of the website was to bring likeminded people, those looking to spice up their lives, together.

"Infidelity is moving quickly from social arenas such as bars and pubs to the Internet. Thanks to Victoria Milan, affairs have become much safer and more discreet than ever before," he said.

"It [the website] is a safe, discreet and pleasant place to find someone to flirt or have an affair with."

When asked by the Rotorua Daily Post whether the site ruined or harmed marriages, Mr Vedal said he believed it saved them by reviving the passion in the people who were struggling with emotionless relationships.

Mr Vedal said having an affair outside a relationship didn't mean the marriage had to end. "Because of our confidential and secure service, we have actually saved hundreds, if not thousands, of marriages," he said.

"We know from the polls that we conduct with our members that 73 per cent of them are using our dating site only to flirt online and then go back to their family and live their life happily, boosted with happiness from the positive experience that flirting or an affair provides," he said.

However a local church pastor disagrees, saying having an affair would do nothing but harm to a marriage.

Harvest Apostolic Church pastor Dave Moore, who has been married close to 40 years, said marriage was a commitment between two people and was something to be cherished.

"I think it's really sad that people would cheat on their partners and the claim that it revives the passion in the people is just rubbish. It might provide someone with a short-lived sense of thrill, but in the long term it's really damaging to all those involved," he said.

"I've always appreciated the saying, 'you fall in love many times, but it's always with the same person'."

Mr Moore said he disagreed with the controversial website, which comes complete with a panic button that redirects users quickly to YouTube if anyone enters the room.

The website also features anonymity tools, such as a tool to blur out faces on profile pictures, anonymous profile protection and an auto-logout system.

Mr Vedal founded the site after he quit his job as a media director in 2010. He said he wanted to create his own business from scratch, something he believed would "enrich life of thousands of people".

Through researching dating sites, he found most members lie about their relationship status.