Have you lost anything on public transport? An umbrella, perhaps, or a pair of gloves? Your teeth, a lawnmower, a wedding dress or maybe your favourite park bench? All of these and many other unusual items have been and handed in to London’s lost property office in Baker Street over the last 75 years. If you go to their office you will be amazed at the enormous number of things people while travelling in the city on buses, trains and the underground.
Last year 36,852 books were found; that’s enough to fill a library. 28,550 bags were handed in, with things in them, and 27,174 of clothing. The manager of the lost property office says she loves being reminded of how honest Londoners are when they hand in lost property. Of course, not everything gets handed in but stories the time a bag was handed in with 10,000 pounds in it help restore your faith in human nature.
The office is quite at getting things back to their owners too. If you lose something you can report it to the lost property office and assuming someone has kindly handed it in, their computer system Sherlock will try to find it for you. The office you to give as much information as possible as this obviously makes the search easier. However, if you lose something and it finds its way to the lost property office they won’t it forever. If they are not claimed after three months, most items are given to charity or sold at auction.