CANBERRA (Reuters) - It's every single person's nightmare: You're on a date, it's a disaster but there's no way out. With Valentine's Day (news - web sites) looming, a mobile phone company in Australia has come to the rescue with a service offering an escape from the date from hell.

All you have to do is discreetly dial three numbers and then hang up without saying a word. "Virgin Mobile will call them back a minute later with a perfect excuse to get them out of there. We'll even talk them through what to say," the company, a joint venture of the Virgin Group and Optus, said in a statement. A survey of 402 people by Virgin Mobile found that 53 percent arrange in advance to have a friend call them mid-date to check they are all right or if they need an excuse to get out. The results showed women were twice as likely as men to use the tactic.