AceShowbiz - Benedict Cumberbatch has brushed off the praise he's received since fighting off a gang of muggers who attacked a food delivery driver.

The 41-year-old was with wife Sophie Hunter when he jumped out of his Uber taxi after witnessing a Deliveroo cyclist being smashed over the head with a bottle by a group of men. According to witnesses, Benedict dragged the four muggers off the victim, who was in his 20s, in the incident that happened on Marylebone Road in central London last November.

Though the British actor has been lauded with compliments since details of his brave intervention emerged last week (June 2), he has modestly played down his heroic actions.

"I'm no hero. There are real-life heroes out there and I'm not one of them," the "Doctor Strange" star told The Sun during the Hay Literary Festival in Wales.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that they were called to reports of an assault and that the aggressors fled towards Baker Street - the street where Benedict's fictional sleuth character Sherlock Holmes lives.

It is alleged that the gang was trying to steal the cyclist's bike, but nothing was stolen, according to British newspaper The Telegraph, and the police added that the victim was unharmed and did not need hospital treatment.

The Oscar nominee's Uber driver Manuel Dias, who also intervened in the scuffle, described the father-of-two as a "superhero."

"Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street. I had hold of one lad and Benedict another. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing," the 53-year-old recalled. "He was very brave. He did most of it, to be honest. They tried to hit him but he defended himself and pushed them away. He wasn't injured. Then I think they also recognised it was Benedict and ran away."

No arrests have yet been made.