Dumping has become a thing of the past.

Dumping has been dumped

Dumping has been dumped

A new study has found that the non-confrontational Generation Z prefer to separate from their partners by simply ignoring them.

Ghosting - which includes snubbing calls, texts and social media messages - is the method of ending a relationship for younger people.

The study by married dating site Ashley Madison found that finishing with someone face-to-face now only happens in 24 per cent of break-ups.

Only 11 per cent said that they would end a relationship with a phone call.

Relationship expert Lucy Beresford: "A person would prefer to be told face-to-face about the ending of a relationship.

"Yet what is actually happening increasingly is the 'slow fade' where people take longer and longer to reply.

"Rather than a clear-cut ending, the relationship gradually fizzles out - which can be agonising."