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.
Two senior Labour MPs have suggested the prime minister may have to go within months if the government continues to perform poorly.
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates said his sources – a member of the government and a prominent politician – have “put Sir Keir Starmer on notice”.
Both warned that, if Labour performs badly in next May’s elections across Wales, Scotland and London, it could mark the end of his time in Downing Street.
Coates added: “The level of unhappiness and despair in parts of the Labour Party is so striking that right now, on the first anniversary, I am hearing from ministers in government that Starmer might have to go in months.”
Reform UK is surging in the polls in Wales, while Labour faces a threat from left-wing parties such as the Greens in London.
It comes as the prime minister made it clear that Rachel Reeves has his “complete support” as chancellor and remains integral to his project, Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby understands.
She looked visibly upset during Prime Minister’s Questions, with a spokesperson claiming she had been affected by a “personal matter”.
A day earlier, Sir Keir’s controversial welfare bill was passed despite a sizeable rebellion from Labour MPs, with major U-turns meaning a new £5bn black hole has appeared in the country’s finances.
One senior figure told Rigby that the pair were as “as close politically” as any chancellor and prime minister have ever been.
“She is going absolutely nowhere,” they added.
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Welfare vote ‘a blow to the prime minister’
Ms Reeves’s tears sent markets spiralling, with the value of the pound and long-term government bonds falling sharply.
Later in the day Sir Keir, said Ms Reeves will be chancellor for a “very long time to come”.
The prime minister said it was “absolutely wrong” to suggest her tearful appearance in the Commons related to the welfare U-turn.
“It’s got nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with what’s happened this week. It was a personal matter for her,” he said while speaking to the BBC’s podcast Political Thinking with Nick Robinson.
“I’m not going to intrude on her privacy by talking to you about that. It is a personal matter.”
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Just 25% of public think Starmer will win next election
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Asked if she will remain in post, he said: “She will be chancellor by the time this is broadcast, she will be chancellor for a very long time to come, because this project that we’ve been working on to change the Labour party, to win the election, change the country, that is a project which the chancellor and I’ve been working on together.”
He said Ms Reeves has done a “fantastic job” and added: “She and I work together, we think together. In the past, there have been examples – I won’t give any specific – of chancellors and prime ministers who weren’t in lockstep. We’re in lockstep.”
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, also offered a strong defence for the prime minister and chancellor.
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Health Secretary: Reeves is ‘resilient’
He told Sky News this morning that Sir Keir has been “consistently underestimated” and was “of course” safe as prime minister.
And he said Ms Reeves was a “tough character” who was ” resilient” and “here to stay”.
Despite making “significant improvements”, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has lost the “trust and confidence” of some victims of grooming gangs, according to a report by the police watchdog.
Michelle Skeer, His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, said that since 2019, when GMP started to review its non-recent child sexual exploitation investigations, “the force has improved its understanding and approach to investigating allegations of child criminal and sexual exploitation”.
The document, published today, said police have live investigations into “multi-victim, multi-offender” child sexual exploitation inquiries, involving 714 victims and survivors, and 1,099 suspects.
Grooming gangs scandal timeline
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‘Our chance for justice’
But despite recording improvements, a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) also identified:
• Various training gaps within the investigation team
• Lack of consistency in evaluating case files between social care, health and police
• Failures to initially support victims meant they had “lost trust and confidence” in police
The report was commissioned by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham in 2024 to evaluate whether police, councils and health services can protect children from sexual exploitation in the future.
Its release comes days after Sir Keir Starmer announced he was launching a new national inquiry into grooming gangs after previously arguing one was not necessary,
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Starmer to launch new grooming gang inquiry
The findings were issued as the final part of the CSE (child sexual exploitation) Assurance Review process which started in 2017. The first three reports examined non-recent child sexual exploitation in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale.
Mr Skeer said that the force has been trying to improve its service to those who have experienced sexual exploitation, but previous failings have badly affected trust in GMP.
He said: “For some, trust and confidence in the police had been lost, and the force would not be able to rectify their experiences.
“It is vital that improvements are led by victims’ experiences, and if they do come forward, they are supported, protected and taken seriously.”
A recent report by Baroness Casey found a significant over-representation of Asian men who are suspects in grooming gangs in Greater Manchester, adding though authorities are in “denial” more needs to be done to understand why this is the case.
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Teen caught in child sex exploitation
Inspectors also said there were “training gaps” in some investigation teams and issues with data sharing, with local councils sometimes not willing to provide detectives with information, leading to “significant delays in investigations” into grooming gangs.
It cites problems with intelligence provided by Manchester City Council, which took months to arrive and “was so heavily redacted that some pages contained only a few words”, the report said.
Read more from Sky News:
Analysis: Badenoch’s grooming gangs outrage
Grooming survivor wants apology from Starmer
GMP is the only force in the country to set up a dedicated team to investigate grooming gangs. Called the Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team (CSE MIT) it has about 100 staff and a ringfenced budget.
In October 2024, the force told inspectors there were 59 live multi-victim, multi-offender child sexual exploitation investigations, of which 13 were being managed by the CSE MIT.
The report adds: “The force fully accepts that it made mistakes in the past.
“It has taken positive and effective steps to learn from these mistakes and improve how it investigates recent and non-recent child sexual exploitation.”
Separately, the Baird Inquiry published in July 2024 found officers at GMP were abusing their power – making unlawful arrests, unlawful and demeaning strip searches, sometimes treating victims as perpetrators, and traumatising those who have suffered sexual abuse or domestic violence.
The health secretary has offered a strong defence of the prime minister and chancellor – ahead of Sir Keir Starmer setting out his 10-year vision for the NHS.
PM ‘might have to go in months’ – politics latest
Wes Streeting dismissed suggestions the prime minister could be forced out in months following the toughest week of his premiership yet, and described Rachel Reeves as “resilient” and would “bounce back” following her tearful appearance in the Commons on Wednesday.
Overnight, two senior sources – a member of the government and a prominent politician – told Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates that they had “put Sir Keir Starmer on notice”.
The health secretary, who was speaking as Sir Keir prepares to set out his 10-year vision for the NHS, said the prime minister had been “consistently underestimated”.
Asked by Kamali Melbourne on Sky News Breakfast whether Sir Keir was “safe”, Mr Streeting said: “Of course.
“Keir Starmer has been consistently underestimated. I wonder when people will learn.
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Reeves has ‘complete support’
“They said he couldn’t win the Labour leadership, but he did. They said he couldn’t change the Labour Party, but he did.
“They said he couldn’t take the Labour Party from its worst defeat since the 1930s to election victory last year. And he did and now the cynics say he can’t change the country, but he will.”
As for Ms Reeves – whose tearful appearance in the Commons spooked markets after the prime minister initially failed to back her, Mr Streeting said the chancellor was a “tough character” who was “resilient and she will bounce back”.
The health secretary declined to expand on why Ms Reeves was in the chamber at all yesterday, repeating that it was a personal matter.
“Rachel Reeves as chancellor is here to stay,” he continued.
“We need her to get the economy from strength to strength, to make sure that family finances are in better health than we were when we came into office.”
Speculation about the futures of the two most senior members of the government threaten to overshadow the announcement today, which the government says is “one of the most seismic shifts” in the health service’s history.
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Why has Starmer axed NHS England?
Sir Keir will pledge three main facets of the plan: moving care into the community, digitising the NHS, and a focus on sickness prevention.
The prime minister will announce neighbourhood health services will be rolled out across England to improve access to the NHS and to shift care out of overstrained hospitals.
Sir Keir has already promised thousands more GPs will be trained, and to end the 8am “scramble” for an appointment.
He also previously said his government will bring the NHS into the digital age, with “groundbreaking” new tools to support GPs rolled out over the next two years – including AI to take notes, draft letters and enter data.
And he will promise new contracts that will encourage and allow GP practices to cover a wider geographical area, so small practices will get more support.
Unite, one of the UK’s largest healthcare unions, welcomed the plan cautiously but said staff need to be the focus to ensure people are better looked after.
Read more:
Hundreds of NHS quangos to be axed
How pilot scheme from Brazil is helping NHS
‘Reform or die’
Sir Keir said: “The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it.
“But we inherited a health system in crisis, addicted to a sticking plaster approach, and unable to face up to the challenges we face now, let alone in the future.
“That ends now. Because it’s reform or die.”
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Do you want AI listening in on chats with your doctor?
Neighbourhood health services
The newly announced neighbourhood health services will provide “pioneering teams” in local communities, so patients can more conveniently access a full range of healthcare services close to home.
Local areas will be encouraged to trial innovative schemes like community outreach door-to-door to detect early signs of illness and reduce pressure on GPs and A&E.
The aim is to eventually have new health centres open 12 hours a day, six days a week to offer GP services as well as diagnostics, post-operative care and rehab.
They will also offer services like debt advice, employment support, stop smoking help or weight management.
More NHS dentists
Dentists will also be part of the plan, with dental care professionals part of the neighbourhood teams.
Dental “therapists” will carry out check-ups, treatments and referrals, while dental nurses could give education and advice to parents or work with schools and community groups.
Newly qualified dentists will be required to practice in the NHS for a minimum period, which they have said will be three years.
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