Excuse me, you forgot your… bollard: The weirdest things left on public transport
Entering the largest lost property warehouse in Europe feels a bit like heading into a theme park maze – except instead of hedges, there are rows of metal shelves about 10ft high and full of, well, everything.
It’s vast, very grey, rather cold and, in truth, a little bit dull on the surface. Perhaps its operators had this in mind when they decided to fill the first section as you walk in with stuffed toys.
It sort of does the trick at brightening up the place, until you think about the children who are missing them.
With around 200,000 items turning up every year – roughly 6,000 every week – it’s organised chaos at Transport for London’s (TfL) lost property office in West Ham, east London.
As you walk around the warehouse you see the seemingly endless shelves filled with backpacks, handbags, phones, umbrellas, skateboards, scooters, buggies, footballs – you name it.
It’s brimming with London life, but it’s all lost. And with just three months to claim what’s theirs, if owners aren’t quick they may run out of time.
Still, there’s fun to be had here. The staff showing me around have a spring in their step as they tell me about the painstaking amount of work that goes into logging and sorting up to 1,100 new items per day.
“There’s a real surprise factor. Every day is different,” says Diana Quaye, the lost property office’s manager. “The other day we had a bollard come in from the Tube… I was questioning that, but we’ve been assured that it was definitely from the Tube!”
Who would ever want to leave this lovely fella behind?
But it’s not just random junk. Some of these shelves hold seriously expensive stuff – Rolex watches, engagement and wedding rings and other expensive jewellery, the staff have seen it all. And much of it has never been claimed.
They have also found bags containing significant sums of cash, some as high as £15,000.
“There’s a lot of money that comes through here that we don’t get the chance to return because its owners assume it won’t get handed in,” says Ms Quaye.
TfL lost property office manager Diana Quaye
Can you guess some of the weirdest items that have been left on public transport since TfL’s lost property service opened for business 90 years ago? I doubt it.
Weirdest lost property
- A box of cooked frogs – not just legs, full frogs
- Dried snakes
- A tray of different coloured false eyes
- A glass jar filled with bats
- A puffer fish
- A wedding dress
- A Dalek costume
- A parachute
- A bollard
- A taxidermied fox with a crown – so it’s extra fancy
- A prosthetic leg
- A new 50-inch TV
Items most frequently left behind in 2021
- 40,015 books, documents and cards
- 34,593 bags
- 24,429 items of clothing
- 10,653 pairs of glasses
- 9,234 keys
How is it all sorted?
Every day may be different, but make no mistake: it looks tedious.
Every single new item, whether it’s an iPhone or a filthy scarf, has to go through a rigorous process.
First, they get sorted into one of a dozen different categories, from clothing, handbags and jewellery to keys, personal documents, phones and electronics. Plus general items – you know, your dried snakes, false eyes and such. This alone can take a full day to complete if it comes during a particularly busy day on public transport.
Each item then gets logged on a database, aptly called NotLost, with a unique reference number. Staff will input as much detail as possible about each item so that if an owner calls to find their property, there are plenty of identifiers.
They get moved to the correct storage area, waiting for their owners to come and claim them.
The vast majority of the time, however, the lost property staff’s efforts are in vain – as only about 8% of all items left behind get reunited with their owners.
On the right… a bollard
‘One man’s trash…’
“Every time my staff log something, whatever it is, they keep the idea in their heads that somebody will try and claim it,” Ms Quaye says. “That’s why they take their time, go through each item and make sure they get as much information as possible.
“I always say to myself: ‘Somebody else may not think it’s important, but a person out there may think it’s really important to them’.”
The day before my visit, TfL reunited a mum with her phone, she tells me. It had precious photos of her baby on it which hadn’t been downloaded on any other devices, so she assumed they had been lost forever.
It shows how seemingly replaceable items can be anything but, Ms Quaye says. “We put ourselves in their shoes because we can imagine what they’re going through when they lose things like that.”
The original TfL lost property office was founded in 1933, located at 200 Baker Street, near Marylebone
It’s been 30 years, yet nobody’s taking the Mickey
Ms Quaye’s sentiments echo across her workplace. I pass one member of the inputting team who is logging a shoddy-looking Spider-Man lunchbox; not far to his left there’s a rack containing at least 50 used water bottles, each fitted with a unique yellow tag.
“Got to be done,” another team member tells us. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
What happens to items that don’t get claimed?
While the hope is that all items get returned to their rightful owner, any that don’t within three months of being lost become the property of TfL (though cash is held for a year).
It either gets donated to charity, recycled, disposed of, or sold in public auctions – the profits of which go directly into running the lost property service. Any personal data is also completely wiped or destroyed.
There is the odd exception. If something is lost that the team at TfL considers particularly unique or rich in historical value, it might be kept well beyond the three-month expiration date.
Up a staircase, on a platform overseeing all of the site’s lost property, there’s a section containing the oldest, biggest and strangest items left on TfL lines over the years.
It’s where a lot of the aforementioned weirdest stuff lives, as well as some ancient-looking artefacts, artwork, an old sewing machine and a Mickey Mouse figure found in 1993. It looks a bit like a museum.
“That’s what we’re aiming for,” one member of staff says.
How do I claim my property?
You can enquire by going to TfL’s lost property page.
You’ll need to provide as much detail as you possibly can about what you lost, where you lost it and when.
It can take up to 15 days for your enquiry to be processed. After that, TfL will notify you to let you know if they think they’ve got what you’re looking for, or if they need more information.
Once it’s been confirmed they have your property, they’ll let you know how you can reclaim it – either by visiting their office by appointment or having it couriered for an additional cost on top of an admin fee, which can vary depending on what the item is and where it was found.
And if you’ve ever left anything on the Tube in the past, never to be reunited, rest assured it was well looked after. Or, if you were once the proud owner of a box of cooked frogs, a regal taxidermied fox, or a mystery bollard, you can take pride knowing it may have found its place in TfL museum history.
Metropolitan Police is to stop investigating “non-crime hate incidents” to “reduce ambiguity” after prosecutors dropped a case against Graham Linehan.
Linehan, 57, will face no further action after being arrested over his social media posts about transgender people.
The Father Ted and IT Crowd creator said his lawyers had been told the case wouldn’t proceed. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the move.
Linehan, 57, was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence when he landed at Heathrow from his home in the US on 1 September.
The incident drew criticism of the police and government from some politicians and free-speech campaigners.
Met Police said today it would stop investigating “non-crime hate incidents” to “reduce ambiguity” and “provide clearer direction for officers”.
Posting on X, Linehan announced : “After a successful hearing to get my bail conditions lifted (one which the police officer in charge of the case didn’t even bother to attend) the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped the case.
“With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.”
The union said it had hired a “top flight team of lawyers to sue the Met for wrongful arrest, among other things”.
“The police need to be taught a lesson that they cannot allow themselves to be continually manipulated by woke activists,” it added.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson confirmed it had reviewed the case file and decided “no further action” would be taken.
Linehan said he had to be taken to hospital on the day of his arrest. Pic: PA
In one of his posts, Linehan wrote: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
Another was a photo of a trans-rights protest, with the comment “a photo you can smell”, and a follow-up post saying: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em”.
A Met Police statement after the case was dropped acknowledged “concern” around Linehan’s arrest.
It added: “The commissioner has been clear he doesn’t believe officers should be policing toxic culture war debates, with current laws and rules on inciting violence online leaving them in an impossible position.
“As a result, the Met will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents.
“We believe this will provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations.”
Linehan said on his blog that he was arrested by five armed officers and had to go to A&E after his blood pressure reached “stroke territory” during his interrogation.
Police said the officers’ guns were never drawn and were only present as Linehan was detained by the aviation unit, which routinely carries firearms.
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JK Rowling, who’s regularly shared her views on women’s rights in relation to transgender rights, was among those who had criticised the arrest, calling it “utterly deplorable”.
Reform’s Nigel Farage, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, and ex-foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly also hit out at the treatment of Linehan.
UK
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The son of former England footballer Stuart Pearce has died in a crash, his family has said.
Harley Pearce, from Marlborough in Wiltshire, was driving a tractor near Witcombe, Gloucestershire, on Thursday, when he was involved in a collision, police said.
The 21-year-old farming worker died at the scene, on the A417 Old Birdlip Hill in Witcombe, around five miles from Gloucester.
No other vehicles were involved, Gloucestershire Constabulary said. Emergency services were called to the scene of the incident at about 2.30pm on October 16.
Stuart Pearce at last year’s FA Cup Final at Wembley. Pic: PA
Harley Pearce was 21 and worked in farming, according to reports.
‘Our shining star’
In a tribute posted on Facebook, Harley sister, Chelsea Pearce, said the family was “truly shocked and utterly heartbroken at the loss of our cherished son and devoted brother, Harley”.
He was, the family said, was a soul “who left an unforgettable imprint on all who knew him”.
“He was a golden boy with an infectious smile, and this shocking tragedy will leave a huge hole in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to have known him.”
He had “a quiet, understated strength and deep kindness”.
The family said they were “so proud of the young man he had become, exhibiting a wonderful work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit in the farming industry.
“He will always be our shining star. Rest in Peace, our beautiful son and brother. You will never, ever be forgotten.”
What have police said?
Harley ran his own company, Harley Pearce Agricultural Service, talkSPORT said.
Gloucestershire Constabulary said on Thursday: “The driver of the tractor, a man in his 20s and from Wiltshire, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“His next of kin are aware and being supported by specially trained officers.”
The force is appealing for any witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to contact them.
‘Tragic news’
Harley’s father, Stuart Pearce, played 78 times for England and was part of the Three Lions squads which reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96, the FA said on its website.
He was later the head coach of the England Under-21s.
During a long club career, he made more than 400 appearances for Nottingham Forest, many of them as captain, during a 12-year spell at the City Ground.
He later managed the club, as well as another former club, Manchester City.
Pearce currently works as a pundit on talkSPORT, which said on its website that Harley and Chelsea were the two children he had with his ex-wife Liz.
Presenter Jim White said during a broadcast on Monday that “everybody here on this show and at talkSPORT sends our heartfelt condolences to the family of Stuart Pearce after that tragic news we’ve just heard”.
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Several of the clubs he played for posted tributes on X, including Forest, who said they were “deeply saddened”.
The club said: “The thoughts of everyone connected with Nottingham Forest are with Stuart and his family at this truly difficult time.”
West Ham United said: “We are saddened to hear of Harley Pearce’s passing.
“Everyone at the Club sends their deepest condolences to Stuart and his family at this tragic time.”
Manchester City said: “Everyone at Manchester City sends their love and thoughts to Stuart and his family at this very difficult time.”
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