An 18-stone cyclist fought off two thieves who pushed him into the River Stour and tried to flee with his £3,000 mountain bike.

Lee Griffiths climbed from the water and grappled with the pair before they ran off empty-handed.

The attempted theft happened near Kingsmead as the 48-year-old was on his way home to Sturry after a ride with friends.

He was riding his Santa Cruz Bronson under the bridge beside the river when he passed two men, one of whom lunged forward and knocked him off the bike.

Lee said: “I went into the water but fortunately only up to my ankles.

"I don’t think they realised who they were dealing with because there was no way they were having my bike.”

Lee got out of the water to be confronted by one of the men, who was shielding the other as he tried to escape on the bike.

Lee, who is 6ft 2in, said: “I guess the adrenaline just kicked in because I gave him a couple of digs and he went down.

“I think the other guy was having second thoughts after he saw what happened to his mate.

“I got hold of the bike and grappled with him and he and his mate then ran off.”

Lee, who is unemployed, says he was shaken up by the incident, which happened at 8.30pm on Tuesday, but got back on his bike and continued his ride home to Island Road.

“The next day I had a few aches and pains and went into Canterbury to report it to the police,” he said.

“Mates said I was lucky that one of them wasn’t carrying a knife. But I just didn’t think about that at the time and only wanted to stop them taking my bike.

"I don’t think they realised who they were dealing with because there was no way they were having my bike” - Lee Griffiths

The men are described as being aged in their mid to late 20s and 5ft 8ins.

They were both dressed in dark clothing and wearing woollen hats which were pulled down.

One of them had an eastern European accent.

Lee said: “I was able to look after myself, but if it had been a women or someone smaller things could have been a lot different.

“I regularly ride that way and it won’t stop me, but I probably won’t go under the bridge in future.”