Jake Gyllenhaal has been touted as the modern day Robin Hood after doing a random act of kindness.

The Hollywood actor was out and about in Los Angeles recently when he decided to help absent drivers not get citations for being over their allotted parking time.

An eyewitness told Star magazine that Jake dug deep into his pockets and came up with some spare change to help out.

"Jake was shopping in Beverly Hills and noticed a few parking meters were about to expire," the source revealed.

"And he saw that the parking enforcers were standing right there, waiting to issue tickets when they ran out."

But even though he was warned by the officers that it was illegal to top up the meters, Jake apparently did it anyway and filled up several meters so unwitting drivers wouldn't get back to their car to find the dreaded envelope on their windscreen.