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A cyclist who was attacked by thugs and thrown in a canal with his bike said he is so traumatised by the vicious assault that he is moving out of London.

Peter Bettell was returning home to his canal boat in Kensal Rise when a gang punched him and slashed open his jacket before pushing him into the icy water and leaving him for dead.

The incident on the towpath on the Grand Union Canal in North west London is being investigated by detectives.

Mr Bettell, 53, said he is taking his boat out of London and will commute to his retail job in Piccadilly following the horrific assault at 6.15pm on Tuesday.

He said: “I was cycling home along the towpath and saw this group who looked really menacing. I thought of turning back but I guessed that these people fight other gangs and would not worry me.

"The next thing I knew I was in the water struggling to breathe. I was attached to the pedals of my bike with clips so struggled to release them. It was touch and go whether I could get out.

"Then a young girl hauled me out. I don’t know how she did it I am 13st and she was not that big - it was a superhuman effort. Thanks to her I was on the towpath and someone called an ambulance. The gang left me for dead. She probably saved my life.”

Mr Bettell said a plain clothes detective was on the scene just five minutes after the attack.

He has a black eye, heavy bruising on his chest and his jacket was slashed, possibly with a knife, he said.

He said the incident followed another in which a group tied a rope from Mr Bettell’s boat across the towpath causing a cyclist to go flying in the air and smash their face in the concrete path.

Mr Bettell believes the same gang was responsible.

He said: “Enough is enough, I am leaving London - it’s too dangerous. I had never argued with this group or had anything to do with them. They did not mug me, it was violence for the sake of violence.

"All my life I have lived in London, and now I will have to commute. We should not have to live like this. There should not be no go areas in London.”

A police spokesman said: “Police were called to reports of a man having been pushed into the canal.

“Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended. The man had been helped out of the canal by passers-by. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for cuts and bruises before being discharged.

“The suspects - described as black males, aged in their late teens or early 20s - are believed to have pushed the victim - a 53-year-old man - as he travelled along the path by the canal towards Ladbroke Grove.

There have been no arrests so far and enquiries continue.”

Any witnesses that haven’t already spoken to police, or anyone with any information about the suspects, is asked to contact the CID at Charing Cross Police Station via 101. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org