Stuntman Tony Van Silva is one of the unknown stars of the latest Hollywood blockbuster Batman Begins.

While the film's stars such as Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise's latest wife-to-be, grab all the headlines, Tony is only one of the hundreds of people with a supporting role.

Tony, 55, from Hove, spent five days filming scenes for the film at the gothic St Pancras railway station in London.

Tony, who was a semi-professional wrestler before becoming a stuntman, said: "The scene was set in an asylum. The station is a fantastic setting as it has a ceiling which is about 100ft high. Batman comes flying down on a cable."

Tony played the part of a SWAT officer.

He said: "We were running around, surrounded by bats."

Tony said the bats were added in as a special effect during production.

Tony, who has also featured in Casualty, said stunt work had been hard to come by in recent years.

He said: "It's a combination of these reality shows and American film-makers not coming over here. It's hard work and sometimes we were doing ten hours a day."