Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been hailed a ‘superhero’ after saving a Deliveroo cyclist who was being attacked by four muggers, according to reports.

The Sun reported on Friday (Jun 1) that the 41-year-old actor leapt from an Uber car and jumped into the fray when he saw the gang of four muggers beating up a defenceless Deliveroo near detective Sherlock Holmes’ fictional home in London’s Baker Street, reports channelnewsasia.com.

Witnesses said he yelled ‘leave him alone’ at the group of muggers, who were punching the cyclist and had smashed him over the head with a bottle. After he dragged the muggers off their bloodied victim, they tried to punch him but he fen­ded them off and they fled, the Sun added.

The Telegraph reported that the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were called to reports of an assault, and that the group had headed off along Marylebone Road towards Baker Street. The victim didn’t need hospital treatment, the police said, adding that no arrests have been made.

Uber driver Manuel Dias was quoted by the Telegraph as saying the cyclist was lucky, and describing Cumberbatch as a ‘superhero’.

Dias, 53, said he was driving the actor and his wife, Sophie Hunter, but only recognised it was Cumberbatch when he was out of the car.

‘Then it all got a bit surreal. Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street,’ he also told the Sun.

Cumberbatch, however, insisted he was not a hero. ‘I did it out of, well, I had to, you know,’ the Sun quoted him as saying.