Police are investigating a surge in robberies where London cyclists are targeted for their bikes or equipment.

New Met figures reveal a near 13 per cent rise in such robberies last year, and incidents in one borough soared by more than 200 per cent.

London Cycling Campaign said riders are attacked on “isolated stretches”, often pushed off by gangs lurking around canals and park cut-throughs.

Last year, there were 1,287 recorded robberies “where bicycles or accessories” — including helmets and navigation gadgets — were stolen, compared with 1,140 incidents in 2018.

Hackney had the highest number with 145 bike robberies last year, a rise of 11.5 per cent. Haringey suffered the largest leap, with 130 compared with 40 in 2018. Westminster saw a 90 per cent rise with 95 bicycle robberies.

An escalation in crimes where “suspects often push victims off bikes and make off riding them” led police and Haringey council officials to set up a new Robbery Executive Group to focus on the problem. Bicycle or accessory robberies made up 3.4 per cent of 37,399 violent thefts in the capital last year, according to police statistics.

Campaigners held a protest ride over the spate of muggings on the Greenway, or Quietway 22, a cycle path linking Stratford to Beckton, which they say gives riders “Hobson’s choice” of using the route or a dangerous main road.

LCC infrastructure campaigner Simon Munk said: “I was riding along the Greenway, suddenly there’s loads of people on mopeds with metal bars riding after me, so I’m pelting it for my life, and managed luckily to get away.

“Cyclists are expected to use isolated, often dark, low-footfall areas.”

Another rider, a man in his thirties targeted on the same stretch, said: “A group of around 10 teenagers was waiting for someone to pass… I was thrown off and beaten until they got my bike and phone. Luckily I only got some bruises and a couple of scrapes.”

Scotland Yard launched Operation Spoke last year, and officers were seizing bikes they believed had been stolen.

Nigel Hardy, TfL’s head of healthy streets, said: “Everybody should feel safe while travelling in London.”