A TRANSPORT charity is to liaise with the police and City of York Council about how a cycle track can be made safer following a knife-point mugging.

Richard Adams, of Clifton, was the victim of an attempted robbery on December 27 as he walked home from work in the afternoon on the cycle track, which runs from Haxby Road to Osbaldwick via Heworth.

Further concerns about the route were raised after a man dressed only in a thong was also seen tied to a tree on Tuesday, although this is believed to have been a prank.

Now David Hall, the regional director of Sustrans, has said the charity is to work with the authorities it make the cycle track safer.

He said: “We are greatly saddened that Mr Adams was subjected to an attempted robbery and assault while cycling home from work on the National Cycle Network in York.

“The Foss Island and Derwent Valley railway path in York is part of the National Cycle Network co-ordinated by Sustrans and the City of York Council.

“It is a popular traffic-free route in York and we would encourage members of the community to continue to use it. The more people use the path, the safer it will be for everyone.

“Maintaining public safety is a priority for Sustrans and we will be consulting the council and North Yorkshire Police about this incident. We cut back vegetation to open up the path and improve visibility wherever possible. The path is well used and normally we would expect a high level of public surveillance making this kind of incident at this time of day very rare.”

He said the charity relies on the path warden and volunteers to ensure the path is as safe and attractive as possible.

Police are still searching for the muggers, whom Mr Adams fought off.

One of the assailants is described as being white, around 6ft tall and was wearing a black hooded top with black tracksuit bottoms, a black hat and a black scarf covering his face.

The second man, who was also white, was wearing a grey hooded top, black tracksuit bottoms and a blue jacket. Police said one of the men may have suffered an injury to his face after being punched to the ground and asked that anyone with information about the attempted robbery phone 0845 6060247.