Archive · 29 Nov 2025
London's Lost Property Warehouse Handles 6,000 Items Weekly
London has a big warehouse where they keep things people lose on buses, trains, and tubes.
Every week, about 6,000 items come in, like phones, wallets, and even weird stuff like a bag of cooked frogs and an urn with ashes.
They try to find the owners, but most things aren't claimed.
After a few months, they either sell them or give them to charity.
Bus riders lose the most stuff, probably because they get too relaxed.
The warehouse is the biggest in Europe and has all kinds of interesting things, like a wedding dress and a stuffed fox.
Transport for London's warehouse handles 6,000 lost items weekly, including phones, wallets, and unusual items like an urn of ashes.
The warehouse, slightly smaller than a football pitch, is the largest in Europe and employs 45 staff members.
Only under one-fifth of lost items are reclaimed, with unclaimed items typically auctioned or donated to charity after three months.
Bus commuters are the biggest culprits for losing items, with a variety of personal belongings and unusual finds stored in the warehouse.
Notable items include a prosthetic leg, a wedding dress, a taxidermy fox, and a bag of cooked frogs, which are discarded along with other perishable items.
- Who
- Transport for London and commuters
- What
- Handling and storing lost items
- When
- Ongoing, with 6,000 items weekly
- Where
- East London warehouse
- Why
- To return lost items to their owners
- Location
- East London
- Items per week
- 6,000
- Warehouse size
- Slightly smaller than a football pitch
- Staff
- 45
- Reclaim rate
- Under one-fifth
- Holding period
- Typically three months
- Notable items
- Prosthetic leg, urn of ashes, wedding dress, taxidermy fox
- Biggest culprits
- Bus commuters