Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been hailed a hero, after confronting and chasing down an intruder who broke into his North London home last Tuesday (Sept 4).

Oliver, 43, initially set out to investigate a commotion coming from his neighbour's house.

Instead, he found himself "face to face" with the burglar who was attempting to smash his way into Oliver's £8.9 million mansion (S$15.9 million) at around 7pm.

According to Metro, Oliver's wife Jools and their five children had been home on the night of the break-in and were "very scared".

A source told British newspaper Metro: "Jamie went absolutely mad and sprinted after the man down the street before catching up with him and pinning him to the floor."

The intruder reportedly targeted a string of other houses in the area, including Oliver's neighbour and another believed to belong to British supermodel Kate Moss.

Speaking to Metro, Oliver said he believed he had no choice but to confront the man, given the tiny window he had to stop the incident from getting much worse.

He said: "I didn't have a choice so it wasn't really about bravery. It was a very odd, unfortunately frightening scenario."