People working in new media are happy to take a cut in pay to work in Brighton.

Derek Grant, of recruitment firm Escape Hatch, said salaries in Brighton and Hove were up to 25 per cent lower than central London but people were more interested in lifestyle than big pay packets.

Having spent a decade working for some of the world's largest media companies, Mr Grant is now running his own media recruitment consultancy in Brighton.

The research was carried out in conjunction with a London consultancy, Morgan Rutherford. It showed the salary of a senior web designer in Brighton could be between £15,000 and £22,000 while, in London, a similar job paid between £31,000 and £38,000.

A production assistant in Brighton got £10,000 to £15,000 but £16,000 to £20,000 in London.

A marketing director in Brighton could expect to receive £40,000 to £55,000. In London, the pay for a person in a similar role was between £56,000 and £65,000.

Mr Grant launched his firm last year to provide tailored services to the city's flourishing new and traditional media sectors. He has a background in sales and business development, gained with a magazine publisher and was head of TV sponsorship at CNN, the AOL/ Time Warner-owned global news channel.

He became European sales director at cnn.com where he put together multi-million dollar advertising and sponsorship deals with companies such as Nokia, Merrill Lynch, Volvo, Barclays and the Financial Times.

He said: "The salary gap is no great surprise but, once you consider the cost of travelling in both financial and quality of life terms, most people choose Brighton.

They are happy not to put themselves through the ordeal of commuting with its daily stressful journeys in the early mornings and late trains back.

"After ten years, I had an urge to step away from working for large corporations and build a business of my own.

"The city now has a world-class media sector and there was a great opportunity to launch a more intelligent approach to search and selection."