- [Narrator] More than three million people use
public transport in London every day.
So it isn't really a surprise to find out
that over 340,000 items were found on the service
between 2017 and 2018.
And this is where all the lost items end up
the Transport for London Lost Property Office.
So property comes into us from all across the TfL network,
and that includes the Underground, the Overground
the buses, the Docklands Light Railway
but even things like the black cab taxis.
The items which are found in there come through
to us as well
and every day, we're receiving on average
around 1,100 items.
So 300 bags, we get over sort of 110 mobile phones
every day.
It's just never-ending... but interesting.
[Narrator] It takes more than 50 full-time staff
to deal with all the items that end up
at the Lost Property Office.
When an item has been found on the network
it's stored at the local station or garage
for a couple of days
and the majority of items which are reclaimed are done
at the front end.
If it hasn't been picked up
it then comes to us at the Lost Property Office.
We'll sort it into categories
we'll input the details into the computer
and we store it safely for three months.
Now, customers can go online to the TfL website
and simply put in an inquiry.
We'll search against all the property that we do have,
but if it does have a name and address or an email address
we'll contact the owner proactively in any case
and for about one in eight items,
we're able to contact people and say
"hey, we've got your property here."
- [Narrator] We were allowed to take a look around
to see some of the things that were currently
in the Lost Property Office.
- So in this aisle here, we have items of clothing
but the thing is
they've all been found in some sort of shopping bag
and that's an important detail
because if you've lost something in say a Sainsbury's bag
that's very visible because of its color
and that will help us in terms of trying to find
has your property been lost.
If you've lost something which is not in a bag
then that's one less attribute or detail
that we can use to try and track down
to see if we've got your property.
So people do carry everything on the transport network,
and we have a lot of tourists
especially coming through London
and so it's not surprising that electronics are lost
in large volume, so cameras, iPads, mobile phones.
We have shelves here just full
of high-value electronic stuff
and one of the things we do, especially with a camera
is we'll have a look and see if there are any pictures
on there which will help identify who the owners are.
So we take...
Firstly we've gotta hope that there's still some battery.
Yeah, this one's live
and we have a look through the pictures
to see if we can help identify who the owner may be.
This one, it's Woody from "Toy Story," ahhh look
that's Disneyland.
Ah, so yeah, looks like a family trip to Disneyland
and that's sort of the information that we would record
which would help when somebody makes an inquiry and says
"I've lost my camera."
We'll say, "well, what sort of pictures were on there?"
And if they say, "well, it was a family trip to Disneyland"
we've helped narrow down the search
and we might be able to get that camera back to them.
- [Narrator] Now I know what you're thinking:
What happens to the items after the three months
inside the Lost Property Office?
Well, maybe Paul can shed some light on that.
- So when items aren't reclaimed having been stored
for three months
they legally belong to us at Transport for London
and we have a responsibility to do something with that
so we'll remove any personal data
and make sure that's securely destroyed.
Most of the items are donated to charity.
They're reusable, but they don't have any resale value.
Items which do have some sort of financial value
they are sold anonymously online
so there isn't a TfL auction you can go to
but any of the proceeds from that
or cash which isn't claimed
or fees when customers have collected their property
that all goes to help offset the running cost
of providing a lost property service.
The one question I always get asked is
what's the weirdest thing that we've found
and do you know what, you have to define what weird is
because for you, it might be something very simple.
For me, it takes a lot for things to stand out.
We had a parachute.
A parachute is not something you expect to be carried
on transport in London
and you're asking yourself
at what point did the person remember
that they'd lost their parachute
and you're hoping it's certainly
before they go up in the plane.
We've had bundles of cash, very large bundles of cash
upwards of £15,000 - £20,000 ($19,000 - $25,500)
which we've had absolute delight in returning to the people.
I think you take everything on value.
Everything has a story.
Everything is interesting.
You sort of give up on looking for weird
and I think weird just finds you these days
but if you have lost something
inquire with the local staff straight away.
If you're on a bus, just have a look online.
It'll tell you what bus garage that bus is going to.
Give the garage a call.
It'll be there for three or four days.
If you haven't found out the station or the garage
go to the TfL website, fill in a form.
We'll have a look for you, and if we find it
we'll let you know, and even if we haven't found it
we'll let you know that it's unlikely to turn up
but just go online, log an inquiry
and last year
76,000 items were returned to members
of the traveling public, so don't give up hope.