A TOP actor is believed to have splashed out up to £300,000 on an engagement ring for his fiancée.

Benedict Cumberbatch appeared in public with theatre director, playwright and actor Sophie Hunter for the first time since his engagement was revealed via an announcement in The Times newspaper.

Miss Hunter was pictured following a film premiere wearing a Tiffany Legacy Edwardian design ring with a 2.5 carat-cut diamond circled by up to 100 diamonds, which is estimated to have set back the Sherlock actor, who was educated at exclusive East Grinstead prep school Brambletye, between £50,000 and £300,000 according to varying national newspaper reports.

Mr Cumberbatch’s new film, The Imitation Game, a biopic of St Leonards-raised mathematical genius Alan Turing, is in cinemas now.