Technology is playing a key role in helping Britons get back in touch with people from their past. Together with email, the Internet has made it easier for 40 per cent of us to track down acquaintances that we had lost contact with. It has also become an established tool for organising a reunion, 72 per cent of respondents would use the Internet or email to track down their old acquaintances.

BT has recently launched a new advertising campaign aimed at demonstrating how technology can help individuals make connections in their everyday lives. Every connection brings greater possibilities and the more connections we make, the more possibilities we have. The advertisement features two middle-aged men who attended school together, being reunited.

The latest BT research shows that reunions are definitely having a positive impact on Britons. More than a third of people who attended a reunion in the last year got their friendship back on track, and one in ten have resolved a difference.

However, reunions are also leading to some furtive behaviour. One in twenty of us who have met up or kept in contact with an ex or old friend since attending a reunion are keeping this a secret from our current partner.

Women are almost three times as likely as men to keep quiet about their dangerous liaisons.

Amanda Mackenzie, director of marketing services, BT Retail, said: "All the things we are doing every day at BT help bring people together and create possibilities. And this research demonstrates how our technology and applications mean that even connections we thought had gone forever can be rediscovered."