“A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy’s shoulders…” Christian Bale’s Batman says in The Dark Knight Rises.
Those words appear to have inspired one exceptionally generous Londoner.
An anonymous philanthropist, concealed beneath a Batman costume, has been staging a series of charitable surprises designed to support communities across the capital.
His unusual acts of kindness have included paying for motorists’ petrol and cutting the cost of chicken and chips to just £1.
Standing outside the London Eye last month, the self-styled “saviour” told his Instagram followers: “London, I am your Batman. For too long, we’ve been left without a hero. I will be the hero London deserves. Tell me your problems and I will make them go away.”
In his latest viral video, London’s Batman promised to cover the fuel costs of every driver visiting a petrol station in south-east London that day. The bill was reportedly around £3,500.
His reason was simple: “Fuel prices are too high – so it’s time someone brings them down.”
Earlier today, UK inflation climbed to its highest level in almost a year, driven largely by an energy shock in the Middle East that has increased the cost of diesel and household energy.
An anonymous philanthropist dressed as Batman has been organising generous stunts to support local communities
In his latest viral video, London’s Batman promised to pay the fuel costs of every driver visiting a south-east London petrol station that day
With average fuel prices exceeding £2 a litre for the first time at the beginning of the month, desperate drivers formed a long queue around the Texaco garage on Elton Road and down the street to claim Batman’s alleged £70 fuel vouchers.
One father was particularly thankful. He explained that his daughter, who was travelling in the car, was seven months pregnant, and having his petrol paid for gave him extra “peace”.
A cyclist also stopped to ask whether London’s Batman could buy him a coffee, describing the drink as his “fuel”. In the following shot, he emerged from the Texaco carrying a steaming takeaway coffee.
“Batman, we appreciate you. Fuel prices in this economy have gone too high,” one grateful customer said.
“Londoners aren’t being looked out for,” Batman explained, adding that he wanted the gesture to “give them hope for a better tomorrow”.
Chancellor John Healey has faced mounting pressure to cut Fuel Duty in the New Year, ahead of his first Budget next week.
Speaking to ITV News after the latest stunt, London’s Batman said: “We’ve got a lot of people doing a lot of talking but not enough doing. I’m here to do the doing. People are struggling, it’s very clear and obvious. We just want to help people.”
Asked what message he had for Andy Burnham’s government ahead of the Budget, Batman replied: “Help people. That’s the most important thing … show it with action, not just words.”
In another heartwarming gesture, London’s Batman paid for parking tickets around Kingston Hospital
At Selekt Chicken Archway, Batman offered chicken and chips for £1 over several days to help offset food price increases since the beginning of the cost-of-living crisis
In another heartwarming move, London’s Batman paid for the parking tickets around Kingston Hospital – which reportedly has the most parking fines in the vicinity of any London hospital.
‘People in the hospital should not have to pay for their parking tickets,’ he insisted, adding that ‘this is a crime and Batman will fix it’.
One woman who had returned from hospital to find her parking ticket paid for said that Batman’s generous act had ‘turned her day around’.
‘All in a day’s work, and that’s what it means to be a hero,’ Batman answered.
At Selekt Chicken Archway, Batman offered £1 chicken and chips for several days in an effort to compensate for the increase in food prices since the start of the cost-of-living crisis.
Young schoolchildren were among the customers who took advantage of the discount.
When one suspicious customer asked ‘so, what’s the deal?’ London’s Batman answered, ‘We’re trying to bring back hope to London.’
The shopowner said he was ‘proud’ that he could ‘help the community’, with several young schoolchildren seen buying the subsidised fried food.
Batman was also seen helping workmen fix potholes outside a youth club, while in another video he comically joined a couple crossing the road to keep them safe – and even held their hand.
Sweaty commuters were reprieved of the hot Underground when Batman started handing out branded electronic fans: ‘We will not rest until all of London is cool.’
Outside Tottenham Court Road, he handed out Freddos (which have frequently been used as an inflation marker, particularly by young people online) for 5p.
With a group of masked men dressed in black, Batman picked up mounds of litter in a neighbourhood.
‘I will not stop until every single bit of trash is picked up off the streets,’ he said.
Niko Omilana, a YouTube prankster and 2021 London Mayoral independent candidate, has been the lead suspect for London Batman’s identity but he has denied any involvement.
