The vigilante hero dubbed the "Bromley Batman" is believed to have left London for his annual holiday - and has already saved a couple from a terrifying mugging.

The masked crime-fighter was spotted outside his home city for the first time last summer when he is said to have fought off a gang who were attacking a man in Newquay, Cornwall.

And it seems he may have returned to the region for an Easter break after a woman in Exeter, Devon, says she was attacked by a man while walking back to her car with her partner following a meal and a few drinks.

The woman, 31, who did not want to be identified, said an apparently homeless man jumped her, near the John Lewis department store, around 11pm.

Then, she claims, a tall masked man dressed in black with a stubbly beard stepped out of the shadows and tackled the mugger.

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He wore a "bandana type mask, black combats and a black hoody" and was estimated to be around 30 years old.

The woman said: "He grabbed the man and twisted his arm up his back and laid him down on the ground kneeling on his back.

"Then turned to us and said 'get the hell out of here you morons'.

"When we looked online we saw the Bromley Batman had been spotted in Newquay last year and we wondered if he might be on holiday again."

The masked avenger has warded off numerous crimes, despite his identity never being revealed.

In June last year, a middle-aged businessman spoke of a caped crusader who swooped in to save him from a group of knife-wielding thugs in Bromley town centre.

Then a woman came forward to say she had been saved from a mugger in Lewisham in February.

In July, a woman was sexually assaulted on her way home from work in Greenwich, but was apparently saved by the superhero.

Rumours on the Bromley Batman are rife, but very little is known about the man behind the mask.

Devon and Cornwall police said they were aware of earlier sightings but there had been no recent reports of such vigilantes operating in Exeter.

Have you seen the Bromley Batman? Get in touch by email - jessica.bell@london.newsquest.co.uk.