LONDON - How yummy is dashing actor Benedict Cumberbatch?

A life-sized statue made of chocolate and sculpted in the likeness of the actor that went on display at a shopping centre in Stratford, London, on Good Friday might provide the answer.

British TV station UKTV said it comissioned the handmade statue, in time for Easter, to promote its new Drama channel.

It polled 2,000 women to find out who Britain's dishiest TV drama actor is, and the Sherlock star won out over others such as David Tennant, Idris Elba, Sean Bean and Damian Lewis.

And what would Benedict Chocobatch, as the statue is named, taste like?

It is made of Belgian chocolate, which is around 33 per cent cocoa, said one of the artists behind the work, and it would taste, well, like chocolate.

At a movie screening last year, Cumberbatch, 38, was called "yummy" by a female fan.

Sighing, he replied, "And now I'm being called yummy... Oh, the jingle-jangle."