A nationwide survey looked into the chance events and split-second moments which have changed the lives of millions of Britons, mirroring the movie of the same name starring Gwyneth Paltrow.

In fact, one in twenty claim they randomly came home earlier than expected and caught their partner CHEATING, while 19 percent say they took a different route than they were meant to on a journey, narrowly avoiding a major traffic accident.

As many as EIGHT percent of those polled also claim they forgot to buy a lottery ticket, only for their usual numbers to come up, while one in twenty believe they missed out on their dream job, because traffic or public transport made them late for the interview.

A regretful 16 percent admit they lost the phone number of someone they truly believe could have been the love of their life.

A further five percent said that being late for a date, ruined their chance of seeing the potential “one” again.

The study of 2,000 Brits, by London North Eastern Railway (LNER), to mark the launch of its new digital travel update service, LNER Assistant, found that the “sliding door moments” can also go in your favour, as 13 percent of Brits have sat next to a stranger on public transport who then became a great friend.

In fact, as many as SIX percent of those who took part in the study claim they ended up marrying someone they met randomly, in a split moment in time.

The research also revealed that 89 percent believe in fate, with 93 percent saying they have no idea that these moments are happening while they are occurring.

The research found that many of these moments involve missing out on something important. Three quarters admit they’ve been driven to tears when they’ve realised that something amazing had slipped through their fingers, and 77 percent admitted to having regrets about the life choices they’ve made.

The study found lateness was a major factor in why people feel they have missed out, with 56 percent saying they were regularly late.

Danny Gonzalez, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer at LNER said

“It’s really frustrating when you miss out on something important, especially when it feels like a ‘sliding door’ moment that could have been avoided. With LNER Assistant, we are putting customers back in control, meaning that they’re less likely to have the next sliding door moment, whether that be a date, a job interview or any of life’s other ‘not to be missed’ events.

“It’s simply a case of checking your phone to get up-to-the-second real time information on your train services, which can mean the difference between making the train or missing that important moment. We’ve made sure to make these alerts available via Facebook Messenger as well as SMS and App notifications, so that they work for our customers in a way that suits them.”

Single moments can make a big difference to our lives, and more than half (54 per cent) of Brits believe their life would have been better if they’d taken the other route. But 26 percent believe that every decision is merely following the path that life set out for us.

And a relaxed 45 percent say there is no point dwelling on what could have been.

Interestingly, older respondents were less likely to believe in fate, with 93 percent of 16-to-29-year-olds buying into the concept, compared to just 85 percent of over 60s.

And 96 percent of the younger generation say they’ve had a “sliding doors” moment, compared to just 81 percent of over 60s.