A weekly newspaper has run a special edition aimed at helping isolated readers to realise they are “not alone”.

The Camden New Journal ran the ‘Lonely in London’ special in a bid to help “beat isolation” among readers.

The New Journal dedicated 14 pages of coverage to the issue with reports by journalists Tom Foot, Harry Taylor, Anna Lamche, Frankie Lister-Fell, Dan Carrier and George Hayes.

Its publication came after Camden Council figures revealed 70pc of people living in the London borough are single, separated or divorced.

In an accompanying leader column, editor Richard Osley wrote: “When you look into the pubs of Camden Town and find them humming with the sound of people sharing the gossip and a few jokes, it might be easy to think that everybody has somebody to clink a glass with.

“The sad reality is that despite this clearly being a community that cares for its neighbours – we saw proof of that during the Covid pandemic – there are still too many people in our borough who do not feel invited to the party.

“When we delivered food during the coronavirus lockdown, there were elderly residents who reported having felt cut off from it all even before the crisis, stuck in a chair and missing lost loved ones. Their minds are still whirring with memories but with nobody to share them with. The pandemic and ongoing nervousness has not helped at all.

“But social isolation can affect people of all ages. There are young students and people who may seem happy to their colleagues in their workplaces during the day, but – particularly in a city where things can be so expensive – feel alone at night.

“The council has identified the problem and is working to reduce this isolation. But it’s not just down to what happens at the Town Hall. What can we all do to help?”

Richard went on to add the edition, published on 4 August, aimed to “investigate the scale of the problem, but also profile some of the people and groups trying to change things and who maybe able to help people reading our paper this week”.

He wrote: “If this edition helps one person, somewhere, it will have been worth the work invested, but we’d love it if sparked an ongoing conversation and helped even more readers know that in this borough, they are not alone.”