He wants to clean up the city and banish high prices. But who is ‘London’s Batman’?

The caped crusader is paying for hospital parking fines, giving out fuel to drivers – and sponsoring the return of cut-priced Freddo bars

In the harsh light of day, a caped crusader storms the streets of London to tackle a crime that has long blighted the capital: littering.

“When I said I wanted to save London, I meant it. I will not stop until every single bit of trash is off the streets,” he says in a viral video, narrated in his trademark deep, husky and (suspiciously) American voice, joined by a gang of hooded helpers clearing rubbish-strewn streets in Tower Hamlets.

This was Batman’s first good deed for the capital and, in the month since relocating from Gotham, he has carried out many more: paying parking fines for those visiting loved ones in hospital, giving out “free fuel” to motorists and bringing back £1 chicken and chips to those who once savoured this cheap and filling after-school meal.

But who is he really and what does he stand for? In a recent interview with a BBC reporter, who was only given a time and location before the masked figure emerged in an alleyway, he summed up his mission: “People are struggling and I want to help them.”

As for his identity, Niko Omilana – YouTuber, prankster and fifth-placed London 2021 mayoral candidate, who has pulled off similar stunts – is the most obvious guess, though he has denied it.

When asked by BBC London if he was the city’s masked mystery saviour, Omilana sent the team a voice note saying: “BBC, just to tell you, I’m not Batman.”

Count Binface, who has faced off against some of the nation’s most high-profile politicians in elections across the country, is another name in the mix, though he denied the rumours.

He told the Guardian: “I can see why a human might think that ‘London’s Batman’ is me, but it is actually a bit armour-ist of you. We’re not all the same.

“I’m happy to make the clarification and I would like to take the opportunity to wish London’s Batman well, including with his inevitable battle on the planet Copyright.”

Omilana remains the most likely suspect. His 2021 mayoral manifesto pledges included turning off all power in London once a year to “call it Londoff”, forcing then-prime minister Boris Johnson to “shush” and reducing the price of a Freddo chocolate bar to 5p.

Curiously, in one of his most viral stunts, London’s Batman set up a stall in Oxford Street where a Freddo could be exchanged for a tiny, silver 5p coin. (The frog-shaped chocolate bar was never officially sold for this sum, with 2p in the 1970s and 10p in the 1990s and early 2000s being the lowest retail prices documented.)

Ace Clvrk was in the area buying a guitar when he came across the stall. “I was lucky that day I had exactly 5p. It felt like fate,” said the 32-year-old musician.

He was approached on the street by some “hooded, masked youths” who “seemed really friendly”. They stopped him and asked: “Do you want to buy a Freddo?”

Clvrk was guided to a stall where he saw the caped crusader in the flesh. He told Clvrk he was “trying to bring attention to lowering the cost of Freddos”.

Like Gotham’s caped crusader, his London doppelganger appears to have significant resources behind him. His social media videos are slickly produced and the tasks he has carried out are hardly cheap.

For the “free fuel” stunt, one resident, speaking to the Times, estimated he gave away more than £3,500 to motorists throughout the day. The Guardian contacted several organisations that had benefited from London’s Batman’s good deeds who declined to speak citing confidentiality reasons.

Clvrk said it looked like a well-run stunt. “Everyone that I spoke to was really friendly and the actual content came out looking great too. I don’t remember actually seeing the camera,” he said.

In the video touting his bargain frog-shaped chocolates, London’s Batman featured a clip of Andy Burnham holding a Freddo while declaring it the “most talked about cost of living symbol in the UK” before going on to say he “might not be able to do anything to reduce the price of these”.

The caped crusader’s Freddo policy could suggest he’s vying for real power. “I’d vote for him, 100%,” said Clvrk. “5p Freddo, £1 chicken and chips and paying for fuel. What’s not to love?”

There could be some weight to this, especially if two-time political candidate Omilana, who also ran against Rishi Sunak in his Richmond and Northallerton seat in 2024, is behind the mask.

The message appears to be resonating. On TikTok, he has already amassed 315,000 followers in just over four weeks.

“I think everything he’s doing is amazing,” said Clvrk. “Politics and prime ministers are removed from the everyday Londoner and British person on the streets who used to be able to get a Freddo for 10p or cheap chicken and chips.

“With rising prices, it’s shining a light on things that seem small to those that are removed from it, but not for the everyday person.”