They are the middle-class moonlighters. Thousands of professionals are taking on second jobs to help them cope with the soaring cost of food, fuel, mortgages and other household bills.

Lawyers, financial advisers, computer programmers and marketing managers are among those now hunting for freelance work to do outside — or even during — office hours to cover the rising cost of living.

According to an analysis by Capital Economics, a City consultancy, official figures this week will show that 1.15m people now have second jobs, a 5% increase since the onset of the credit crunch and the highest number for five years.

While many of the extra 56,000 people taking on work are exploiting their job skills to earn extra cash, others are turning to hobbies and talents to boost their income and offering tuition in cooking, foreign languages, website design or even pole-dancing.

“We saw a sharp rise in the number of people with second jobs in previous recessions and that’s starting to happen again,” said Vicky Redwood, the UK economist for the consultancy Capital Economics. “The true number is probably much higher, as many second jobs are simply never declared and never appear in the official figures.”

Employees are increasingly using websites that allow users to advertise freelance services anonymously, ensuring they do not alert bosses to any possible conflicts in interests.

“We have a lot of people who say they are under-used at work and can go online and find extra to do,” said Xenios Thrasyvoulou, chief executive and founder of PeoplePerHour, a site offering freelance services.

The site currently has 6,000 users advertising their services and Thrasyvoulou estimates it is growing at 35% a month.

Luke Aviet, the founder of Setyourrate.com, said that until recently most users of his site were retired workers and students looking for extra income.

“The big difference in the past three months is that we’re seeing middle-class types flocking to the site,” said Aviet. “Typically, it’s people in IT, financial services or marketing people offering their services for an hourly rate as consultants.

“We are also seeing people selling their skills totally unrelated to their day job. We’ve had an advertising copywriter training people at poker.

“But the thing that unites these groups, they say, is that with bills, food and petrol costs getting higher, they need to do something extra to make ends meet.”

Christine Kennedy, a recruitment consultant in the City, spends several nights a week teaching pole-dancing.

“Everywhere you look prices are going up — food, bills, housing costs,” said Kennedy. “I needed to earn more money and I wanted to do something completely different from my day job, something energetic.”

Police forces are also reporting an increase in the number of officers taking on part-time work to boost their income.

Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said there had been a 5% rise in the number of officers registering second jobs and business interests over the past year.

“We’re seeing officers doing all sorts of work to raise extra funds — selling antiques on eBay, designing websites, working as chauffeurs,” Smyth said.

“One guy who works for the Met now drives a hearse in his spare time.”

Suffolk police have seen a 12% increase in officers taking second jobs over the past year. The jobs they have chosen range from driving instructor to sports therapist, football coach, reflexologist and model.

The economic slowdown has also boosted the fortunes of Avon, the cosmetics company that uses members of the public to sell its products from home. It has attracted about 17,000 new recruits in the past year.

Lesley Hughes, a mother of one from South Witham near Grantham in Lincolnshire, last week made her first deliveries as an Avon representative to supplement her day job in the offices of a tarmac-manufacturing company.

“So many people I know are taking on extra jobs because food and fuel are getting more expensive,” said Hughes. “With this, I get to meet new people and can take my son with me on my rounds.”

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