LOST BELONGINGS FIND NEW HOMES

6 Jan 2016 11:56 AM

A cuddly Paddington Bear, a Lego set and a child's laptop were among the many thousands of items left on London's public transport system in 2015.

While many of the belongings were returned to their owners, vast numbers remained unclaimed and last month, TfL's Lost Property Office donated 400 lost toys, games and electronic gadgets to The Salvation Army's Christmas Present Appeal.

Despite working hard to reunite people with their property, it's not possible for the Lost Property Office team to locate the owners of all items, explains Paul Cowan, its operations performance manager. Thankfully, unclaimed items don't go to waste. The annual charity donation sees toys and games being
distributed among disadvantaged children in south London.

Last year passengers left behind more than 300,000 items on the transport network. Around 21 per cent of the items lost on public transport find their way back to the owner. Yet for high-value items such as e-readers, laptops, cameras and briefcases, the figure is more than 40 per cent as they often have serial numbers or other identifiable information.

So to increase your chance of getting your belongings back, note the serial numbers and label them with your contact details. When property is discovered by drivers, cleaners or handed in by a member of the public, it's logged along with details of where and when it was found. Items are then taken to the Lost Property Office's Baker Street headquarters, just down the road from the home of the fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes.

They're labelled and entered onto a central computer system and stored for safekeeping. Unfortunately, there isn't room to keep items indefinitely, so owners should make contact with the office as soon as
possible. Objects not claimed after three months have all personal data securely removed and may be sold at auction, donated to charity, carefully disposed of, or, if possible, recycled.

Among the most common items left behind are travelcard wallets, mobile phones, bankcards, glasses and umbrellas. More surprising items recovered in recent years have included false teeth, prosthetic limbs, a
lawnmower, a grandfather clock, a life-sized Spiderman doll, a number of wedding dresses and even the cremated ashes of someone's relative.

How to trace your lost property

• Fill in an online enquiry form on the Lost Property website.
• Call 0343 222 1234, Monday to Friday between 08.30 and 16:00
• In person or by writing to: Lost Property Office, 200 Baker Street, London, NW1 5RZ

An administration fee of between £4 and £20 is payable to the Lost Property Office for the return of items.