A PAIR of friends living just 200 miles apart met up in Malaga because two flights to Spain and back were cheaper than one return rail ticket between the English cities.

Lucy Walker, who lives in Newcastle, had planned to travel to Birmingham to see her university friend but was shocked that the return trip would cost £105.

The 27-year-old, who teaches English as a foreign language, did some research online and found she could travel to Malaga for less than £20 return and that hostels were as cheap as £10 per night.

Her charity worker friend was unable to travel quite as cheaply but at £55.29 for a return flight with a Spanish budget airline the cost for both of them was still almost £30 less than the rail ticket.

The pair were reunited in Malaga on Saturday (JAN 7) and spent three nights enjoying the 20C weather in the south of Spain.

Former Nottingham University student Lucy said: "Trying to travel last minute in the UK is always such a kick in the teeth as they put such a big premium on it.

"There are always these last minute deals for flights and so we just checked for a better deal.

"We realised it was cheaper for the both of us to go to Malaga instead.

"Considering I try to be environmentally friendly it is not something I would normally do but the train is so expensive and this was just so much cheaper."

Lucy paid £9.99 each way for her tickets, and her 26-year-old friend – who did not want to be named – paid £55.29 return to travel.

The flights were cheaper than the rail fares between Birmingham and Newcastle would have been, despite the two cities being only 200 miles apart.

The distance between the UK and Malaga is roughly 1,500 miles, meaning the friends will have each made round-trips of about 3,000 miles to see each other.

They spent two nights in a hostel for about £10 a night then travelled to Granada where they stayed for one night in a hotel for £11 each.

Lucy added: "Everything is cheaper out there, we had a lovely time."