A couple insist swinging is "natural and normal" and say the lifestyle is no longer just for "middle aged people".

Olivia , 31 and her partner, Gage, 32, have been together for 15 years.

They decided to spice up their relationship by swinging - engaging in casual or group sex with other people - seven years ago.

Gage, from Lincolnshire, said: "The term swinger has negative connotations.

"The lifestyle now has younger people, and it’s more tasteful.

"It's definitely not just for old or middle aged people - it’s for everyone. I have seen people in clubs in their early twenties all the way to people in their eighties."

Their swinging journey started when Olivia expressed a desire to sleep with women and spoke to Gage about it.

After chatting, the couple decided to explore their sexual desires together.

They meet people using their app or attending swinging events put on by clubs.

They sometimes play separately, sometimes together but say it's not a "week in week out thing, just whenever we get some free time and feel like we want to."

The couple - who run a swinging app together - now regularly hookup both with other couples and other people separately.

Olivia said: "The communication we have and the need for swinging has spilled over into everyday life.

"We communicate amazingly well with each other and that definitely makes for a stronger relationship.

"It’s a very bizarre feeling sleeping with someone else you get an intense hit of love and affection for your partner - it’s like being back in the honeymoon phase."

The pair say if one or both of them decided they wanted to step out of the lifestyle then that would be fine.

"We don’t need it to be happy and content it’s just an added bonus," Olivia said.

Olivia and Gage first met out in Leeds, West Yorkshire, when they were 15 and 16 respectively - romance blossomed and they became a couple.

But eight years into their relationship, Olivia told Gage she'd like to explore sleeping with women.

Olivia, who also works part-time as an air hostess, said: "We had a conversation a few times, and then kind of then it opened up more and we started talking about seeing people solo.

"But then when we both realised that we were up for it we decided to explore doing it together."

The couple then began speaking to another couple who were in an open relationship for six weeks online before arranging to meet up.

Olivia said: "The nerves were there but it was exciting as it was a new thing.

"I was absolutely terrified.

"I said to Gage I think we should turn the car back around, but once we’d met and had a drink, it was so natural and normal.

"It all flowed very nicely and there was no pressure to do anything."

The couple ended up having a foursome, with Olivia, who is bisexual and the woman "playing together" and her and the other woman also "swapping partners."

Olivia then had her own solo hookup a week later with another man.

"It kind of just kept going from there," she said.