A cyclist was bundled into a car and grabbed by the throat in a terrifying robbery.

The 22-year-old man from Basildon was riding his bike along Lincoln Road when a car pulled up alongside him at about 12.30pm.

Suddenly, a man jumped out of the car and dragged the cyclist by his collar off his bike and into the car.

While the car drove down the road, the cyclist was punched repeatedly in the face, chest and ribs and his attacker attempted to strangle him.

Minutes later he was thrown out of the car via the back door and left in the middle of the road.

He suffered bruising, a swollen jaw, neck and face as well as injured ribs.

During the attack his house keys were stolen but there has been no evidence of his home being entered.

One of the men was described as black, more than six foot tall with a muscular build. He had short cropped hair and was wearing a black T-shirt.

A second man, who was driving the car, was described as white and was wearing a grey hooded top.

The victim was not able to describe the car.

The ambulance service sent paramedics to the theywere was called off on the way.

An ambulance service spokesman said: “We were called to treat a man in his twenties who had head injuries.

“An ambulance crew was on route, but they got cancelled when the police decided to take him to hospital themselves.”

An Essex Police spokesman said the attack was “particularly nasty and frightening” and urged anyone with information about the attack, which happened last Friday, to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 08000 555111.