TfL is relocating its Lost Property Office this October, coinciding with its 90th anniversary. Here's what the almost-quarter-of-a-million passengers who lose something every year need to know.
There's been a London Lost Property Office for almost 100 years? That's right. And in fact, even before there was a centralised place for Londoners' lost bits and bobs to go, a LOT of stuff was going missing. In 1902, on the Central line alone, some 560 umbrellas went walkies, along with sundry specs, gloves, muffs, bottles of whisky... and one ham sandwich.
But how many items can Londoners actually misplace? These days it's a cool 200,000 a year. And when you think about it, the network is growing all the time (hello Elizabeth line and Superloop), so the problem's only going to get worse. Unless we all become less forgetful, and we won't.
Yikes. Are they moving to a bigger Lost Property Office then? Pretty much. Since 2019, the office has been in a temporary location in Kensington, but now it's moving to a new site next to West Ham Bus Garage. TfL says it'll be able to process items more quickly from here. There'll also be better parking for black cabs wanting to drop lost property off.
What are Londoners misplacing these days, anyway? Not so many bowler hats and cigars. It's more things like wallets, phones, e-cigarettes and designer handbags. And in one case, a lifesize gorilla.
Weird. Maybe, but not as weird as a 2017 list of 'most-confiscated' items at City Airport, which included snowglobes, furry handcuffs and jars of Marmite.
As it happens, I've lost my jar of Marmite — what are the chances TfL have it? Foodstuffs aren't kept by the Lost Property Office, alas — neither are lighters, e-cigarettes, soiled clothing or highly flammable substances. Otherwise, you've got three months to contact the Lost Property Office and see if they've got your stuff. After that, it's theirs. Really — whatever you've mislaid will then be donated to charity, recycled or auctioned. Or destroyed.
Finish on something nice, please. Recently, the Lost Property Office reunited a young girl with her teddy bear that she'd lost on the tube. Now she can sleep soundly again at night.
