The caped crusader who walked into an English police station dressed as Batman has been unmasked as a local delivery driver.

Police in Bradford, northern England, were baffled when a portly figure in an ill-fitting Batman costume brought them a 27-year-old man wanted for burglary in the early hours of February 25 before disappearing into the night.

They released closed-circuit television footage of the incident on Monday and, after much speculation, the masked hero disclosed his true identity to media overnight.

He was not Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne, but driver Stan Worby, 39.

He also said he had not brought the man in as part of any crime-fighting crusade. He had simply agreed to accompany a friend to the police station to offer him moral support, and had decided to wear the Batman suit as a practical joke.

"Obviously it was done as a joke," he told ITV's Daybreak programme, saying he was "gobsmacked" by the attention.

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Mr Worby said he had been to London's Wembley Stadium earlier in the day to watch local team Bradford City play in the English League Cup soccer final, and had worn fancy dress for the occasion.

While there, Mr Worby was contacted by his friend and agreed to take him in on his return from London.

"Obviously he wanted to get straight down there and I wanted my bed as it was half [past] one in the morning," Mr Worby said.

He also insisted the pictures which showed he perhaps lacked the body of a superhero were unfair.

"I've got my full tracksuit underneath," he explained.

The man who was turned in at the station has been named as Danny Frayne.

Police had been trying to contact Frayne, who has since been charged with handling stolen goods and fraud offences.

"Danny wanted to go to the police station ... I had spoken to Danny during the week and tried to knock some sense into him," Mr Worby told the UK's Telegraph newspaper.

"It was getting on my nerves having police round all the time asking for him or his whereabouts."

ABC/wires