A journalist has been forced to move almost 70 miles away from her patch in a bid to beat the cost-of-living crisis.

MyLondon senior what’s on writer Lea Dzifa Seeberg has moved to Colchester after her rent in the capital city increased by £800 per month.

Lea, pictured, and her now-fiancé had been paying £1,400 per month for a one bedroom and one bathroom flat in London when their landlord increased the price to £2,200.

The demand prompted Lea, a native of Norway, to move to Essex, initially on the grounds of “how easy it would be to commute” to her job at the Reach plc-owned website.

Lea’s move comes after two reporters at the Bristol Post revealed earlier this year they were struggling to find housing after taking their first regional press jobs.

The National Union of Journalists newspaper The Journalist also revealed last week that some reporters are now using food banks to survive while the Journalists’ Charity reported that bids for financial assistance from the charity increased by 50pc over the summer.

In a first-person piece about her move, Lea wrote: “For £1,000 per month, we secured a two-bed, two-bath flat 10 minutes from the train station in one direction and ten minutes from town centre in the other. The size of the living room alone matches that of my entire old flat in Tower Hamlets.

“It’s so bright I always wake up thinking I’ve left the lights on, the kitchen now has enough space to actually cook in and the amount of storage space is unmatched. The second bedroom is being used as an office and my fiancé and I now have a bathroom each.

“And did I mention it’s only £1,000 per month? London’s rental market could never. With bills being roughly the same as they were in London, I’m saving £400 per month.

“That money is going towards paying off our car, which gives us the freedom to explore Essex.”

In March, Post reporters JJ Donoghue and Assiah Hamed revealed they were having to rely on parental help and even working from a different area of the country after taking their first jobs in the industry.