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PLANE CRAZY

I have a good job but can’t afford rent anymore – so I commute 230 miles from my parents’ house by plane & train

A STRUGGLING academic says she can't afford rent anymore - so will commute 230 miles by plane and train to work.

Dr Jennifer Cassidy, a lecturer in diplomatic studies at Oxford University, was working three jobs to get by in the studious city.

Dr Jennifer Cassidy can't afford rent anymore - so will commute 230 miles by plane and train to work
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Dr Jennifer Cassidy can't afford rent anymore - so will commute 230 miles by plane and train to workCredit: DR Jennifer Cassidy

But after 12-years, "heartbroken" Jennifer has moved back in with her parents in Dublin, Ireland.

She told : "There's no other way I would have been able to afford to live [in Oxford] on the salary alone.

"I have a roof over my head, food to eat, I have a job, I get to commute… but it hurts, I wanted to stay."

Oxford has an average rent of £1430 per month, according rental experts Rentoo.

Read More on cost of living

The national average for a room is £700, according to figures obtained by .

Jennifer, 36, spent seven years with a supplementary income as an assistant dean at one of the colleges.

But it meant she had to be on shift from 7pm til 7am three nights a week - leaving her struggling.

Jennifer - who does not drive - will now fly to Birmingham from Dublin and travel by train to Oxford three days every fortnight.

She will cover all her face-to-face lectures on these days and work remotely the rest of the time.

The academic will stay with a pal in London in between university commitments.

Dr Cassidy says Oxford is too pricey to stay in
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Dr Cassidy says Oxford is too pricey to stay in

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