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A thrifty student commutes to his UK university from POLAND to save money.

Jonathan Davey moved to Gdansk because it's cheaper for him to live there and fly back for lectures.

He made the decision after ­discovering that renting a room near his University of London campus could cost him up to £220 a week.

Now his pre-booked return flights, buses to and from the airport and rent in Poland cost him just £2,100 a YEAR.

"It's hard to believe it's cheaper to commute 1,000 miles than live just round the corner," says Jonathan, 23.

(Image: Steve Bainbridge / Sunday Mirror)

"But the cost of living for students is crippling.

"I'm thousands of pounds a year better off living in Poland."

The anthropology student hit on the scheme while travelling Europe last year.

He spent hours researching flight costs and departure times to London from cheap Eastern European cities.

"I leave home in Gdansk and fly to Luton at 6am on Wednesdays," he says.

"Because of the hour time difference, I'm sat in my first lecture by 10am.

"I have lectures Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then fly back to Poland until I do it all again the next Wednesday.

"It works brilliantly."

The two nights a week he is in London are spent in cheap hostels or on friends' sofas.

He travels with only hand luggage and every now again visits his parents in Hampshire.

Jonathan toyed with the idea of living in Lithuanian capital Vilnius which is almost as cost-effective – but no airlines run flights early enough in the morning to get him to class on time.

"Gdansk is also more beautiful," he says.

"I've met lots of new friends there and the quality of life is amazing.

"It's really laid back and bohemian.

"People might think it's crazy, but I love it."

When in Gdansk, Jonathan stays at a hostel with tourists and backpackers that costs him only £35 a WEEK.

"My parents think I’m mad," he admits.

"But they've always known I'm a free spirit.

"I've shown them the figures and they can see I'm saving a fortune.

"Flying backwards and forwards every week makes life feel a bit like a permanent holiday."

His bizarre move highlights the plight facing hundreds of thousands of students starting uni this week.

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Half those already there struggle to pay rent amid spiralling housing costs.

Between 2010 and 2013, rents rose 25% compared to 13% in the wider market, according to student housing charity Unipol.

The National Union of Students has warned the university accommodation system has reached crisis point.

It wants a cap on rents landlords and colleges can charge.

A spokesman said: "There needs to be enforced rent controls to put an end to this."