Lost and found on the tube

by Yuanyuan Guan; Mar 13, 2009

How many times have you lost your stuff on the underground or the bus?

It's happened to the best of us.

My colleague Wendy and I were at Baker Street, heading out for an interview. We were already running late, when we found that our train was travelling in the opposite direction from where we needed to be.

But that wasn't the worst of it. We got off the train fine, but: “The marantz!” We'd left every radio reporter's most treasured possession on the tube!

We were desperate. Would we have to pay for this expensive radio recorder? Even worse, would we be kicked out of our journalism course for such irresponsibility?

We reported our loss to the security guards, but we were told that the train would not stop until the end of the day. We could only wait for an honest soul to find the marantz and return it to the Lost Property Office.

London’s biggest underground storage room

Tucked around the side of Baker Street station, the London Lost Property Office (LPO) is appropriately located just across the street from super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes' fictitious 221b Baker Street residence. It has been here since 1933, a time when people didn’t leave the house without a hat and gloves – and frequently left the tube without them.

The LPO receives over 150,000 pieces of 'free gifts' every year from all forms of transport in London. It collects, collates and returns lost items, not just found on the tube, but on buses, the DLR, at Victoria Coach station and in the city’s black cabs.

Office manager Julie Haley says that one can find almost everything in the storage room, regardless of size, importance or worth. The capital’s residents and visitors seem to lose the strangest of things.

False teeth, false eyes, breast implants, a 14 foot boat, three dead bats and a four foot teddy bear are just some of the most unusual finds on the tube.

"We can get several single pound coins handed in each week, as well as suitcases and bags. We got a bag with stuff worth up to £10,000 worth on one occasion," she adds.

London’s most absent-minded route is the Piccadilly Line, which, with Heathrow airport at one end, has more than its fair share of major finds.

What if it happens to you?

Wendy and I were lucky. We got our marantz back the same day! An honest Londoner in North Harrow tube station reported the lost recorder using the contact sheet in the box.

But if you lose a valued possession, go to the LPO office immediately! The officer there can help you register for your item to be returned.

If someone finds it and returns it to the tube station, you could be reunited with your belongings within a week or two.

Claimed items will immediately get a bright green tag. After three months, all but the most expensive, unique and plain weird unclaimed items are given to charity. The rest are auctioned.

The London Transport Lost Property Office is based at 200 Baker St, W1. The offices are open Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm.

Call 0845 330 9882 or check the Lost Property Office website for more information.

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