It was a case of life imitating art for Irish action hero Aidan Turner after he apprehended a mugger.

The Hobbit star has been hailed a hero after he intervened to tackle a robber trying to steal a fan's handbag.

Aidan (31) was at the Odessa International Film Festival in Ukraine where he was talking to a young fan when a cyclist came up and grabbed her purse before leaving the scene.

The Dubliner, who plays a dwarf in blockbuster The Hobbit, joked: "Fortunately I am not really as short as people who saw the film think I am."

The 5ft 11in hunk managed to catch up with the thief, pulled him off his bike and grabbed the bag back while the cyclist made a hasty exist.

Returning the bag, he said: "It's great to be a real hero for a change, rather than just an on-screen one.

Rescue

"I think the rescue was more like something from Indiana Jones than the Hobbit."

He added that he was unsure what rules applied to citizen's arrests so he didn't take any further action.

The actor was at the festival during a break in filming for the remake of TV show Poldark. Other guests at the event included producer David Puttnam and director Stephen Frears.

Turner plays the part of Kili in the hit fantasy series, with the next instalment due out this December.

And he reckons it was his honesty that helped him nab the part after he admitted to the director that he hadn't read The Hobbit. "I think the fact I was honest with him meant we had a trusting relationship," he said.

mfinn@herald.ie