A weekly paper scooped political editors and national news outlets across the country with an exclusive story about the “action hero” antics of Labour party leader Ed Miliband.

Mr Miliband came to the aid of a cyclist who flipped over her handlebars and broke her arm as she rode through Kentish Town, whisking her onto the pavement and out of the line of traffic.

The Camden New Journal were tipped off to the story by a local source and tracked cyclist Ella Phillips down to publish the story – which created a spike in online traffic four times their normal amount.

The story, which can be read here, has since been picked by national newspapers and broadcast outlets including the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, ITV, the Independent and Channel Four.

New Journal deputy editor Richard Osley said: “Our paper is pretty deep rooted in the community and we know so many people which means we’re able to get these kinds of stories.

“We are not existing on a diet of PA wire and press releases, we are going out and meeting and speaking to contacts.

“Web traffic was quadruple what it normally is for a Thursday on the day the story came out.”

A picture from the Camden New Journal, which bagged an exclusive interview with cyclist Ella Phillips who was saved by "action hero" Ed Miliband

Ella told the paper how she was surprised to find the politician’s face suddenly appear in front of her, and thought she must be imagining things.

“He mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, a bit like an action hero,” she said.

“There was a bike in front of me which suddenly stopped so I had to make an emergency brake. The back wheel flipped over, and the next thing I knew my face was hurtling towards the ground.

“Then, there was Ed Miliband’s face looking very concerned at me. I started to wonder how badly I’d banged my head. My first thought was that I was seeing things because I was still in quite a daze.”

She took herself to hospital the following day and was told she had fractured her arm.

She added that she was surprised at how “suave” the Labour leader was – and said the incident had secured her vote.

“What added to all the confusion was that he was actually attractive and not geeky at all,” she said. “Even the way he appeared was suave. He was dressed casually but he had style.

“I’ll definitely be voting for him now. In fact, it worked so well I half suspected he had deliberately knocked me off my bike just to gallantly help me up again.

“I can just imagine people getting knocked off their bikes by politicians all over London now. You can’t deny it would be great PR, but getting found out wouldn’t be as good.”

A spokesman for Mr Miliband confirmed to the paper that he had helped Ms Phillips.