From WENN.com

The star, who plays Batman in the latest installment of the Caped Crusader franchise, spent more than an hour shaking hands with fans and signing autographs on the red carpet at the event in Leicester Square on Wednesday (18Jul12).

Despite happily interacting with the crowd, the British actor was spotted having hand sanitiser squirted into his palms as soon as he left the venue to get into his chauffeur-driven car.

The photographer who took the picture tells Britain's The Sun newspaper, ""It was priceless. He's a fearless crime-fighter in the film but in real life signing a few autographs was a gamble he wasn't willing to take without some chemical protection afterwards.""

It wasn't only germs Bale was avoiding on the night - he reportedly left the premiere and jetted straight to Paris, France while his co-stars headed to the afterparty.