Comedian Lara Ricote is to star in a new Channel 4  comedy pilot about romance in the cost-of-living crisis.

She appears in Break Clause, opposite Samuel Bottomley, who played  Ralph Roberts in Liam William’s comedy Ladhood.

Fellow comics Leo Reich and Jamali Maddix are also among the cast of the 15-minute film,  which will be released as a  Comedy Blap.

It has been written by Jess Bray, who worked on the last series of Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws – and  is directed by  Starstruck co-writer Alice Snedden.

BBC Studios Comedy, which is making the romcom for Channel 4, joke that it’s a ‘classic love story: Boy meets girl. Girl gets job in the city. Boy and girl break up on the first night of moving in together and find themselves stuck in a legally binding contract they can only end after a fixed-term period of six months - you know, real Jane Austen stuff.’

Born in Mexico and now living in the Netherlands, Ricote won the  Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer in 2022, and returns to the festival this summer with her new stand-up show Little Tiny Wet Show (Baptism).

Channel 4’s Blaps strand has helped launch shows including We Are Lady Parts and Stath Lets Flats.

No details have yet been given about when Break Clause will stream on YouTube and Channel 4.