(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

TWO men have been arrested in relation to a spate of assaults and muggings of cyclists on a leafy stretch of De Beauvoir Road.

Jamie Johnson and Aaron Onabanjo, both 20 and from Kingsland Road, were arrested on September 22 and appeared at Thames Magistrates on September 22.

The muggings came to light after an internet blogger recounted being brutally assaulted earlier this month as he rode home on the junction between De Beauvoir Rd and Northchurch Rd, in the early hours of the morning.

The cyclist’s cautionary post said that as he was riding home, two robbers hidden in bushes on either side of the junction jumped out as he was riding past, pushing him onto the street.

The post read: “A guy sprints out of the shadows wearing a balaclava, pushes me into a high curb, I fly headfirst into a wall and him and another balaclava’d accomplice kick me as I’m on the floor.

Another cyclist, Peter Kimpton, was attacked by two masked robbers in exactly the same spot in August 2008.

Mr Kimpton, who had to undergo plastic surgery on his face as a result of being repeatedly struck with the D-lock of his bike during the assault, said: “I never go that route these days, but I’m exasperated to hear that it is still happening and nothing has been done to warn cyclists.”

A police spokeswoman would not disclose how many incidents had occurred in the vicinity of De Beauvoir Square.

Police are discussing installing CCTV overlooking the junction.

Johnson and Onabanjo were remanded in custody to attend Snaresbrook Crown Court on November 30.