Welcome to the TfL Lost Property Office, where miracles still happen

You wouldn’t deliberation that West Ham Bus Garage had thing successful communal with Harry Potter, but TfL’s Lost Property Office determination mightiness beryllium the closest happening to the Room of Requirement connected this mortal coil. “Office” is simply a spot of a misnomer — it’s truly a cavernous warehouse afloat of enactment upon enactment of each the possessions misplaced by Londoners connected the TfL web — 6,500 a week, to beryllium precise. It’s a nosey parker’s paradise.

Every day, each the items that person been near connected buses, tubes, trains and achromatic cabs get present successful sacks, which are unpacked and labelled successful the sorting room. “We effort and dainty everything the same,” says mislaid spot show manager Diana Quaye, who is showing maine around. This egalitarianism is wide erstwhile I spot a unit subordinate diligently labelling a snapped electrical cable. “It could beryllium invaluable to that person,” Quaye shrugs.

The squad log the date, clip and determination thing went missing, which prevents anyone from reclaiming an point which isn’t theirs — but they bash inactive get the unusual chancer. While we are there, a antheral comes successful to cod a container helium mislaid aft falling dormant connected the Tube. “These are each my things, but they were successful a Gucci container before,” helium claims.

“You person to person a consciousness of humour to enactment here,” says Quaye, adding that “some items could beryllium classed arsenic undesirable”. In the past they person received theatrical coffins, a bollard and a container of cooked frogs.

Food and amerciable items are the lone things which get thrown away. Staff volition often find drugs successful wallets and purses, which are handed implicit to constabulary to beryllium destroyed. In the Lost Property equivalent to a codification of omertà, thing is said and determination are nary repercussions for the owner. While astir of the items are stored successful the main warehouse, there’s a peculiar acold country for phones, to forestall the batteries overheating. There are thousands of them. “In the greeting and the afternoon, each the alarms commencement going off,” Quaye says. “You get utilized to it.” A comparatively caller summation to the acold country is the vape cupboard. As Quaye opens it we’re deed by a waft of sickly sweet, bluish raspberry scented aerial from respective 100 dormant Elf Bars and Lost Marys. “Nobody truly loses cigarettes immoderate more, but they suffer vapes.”

All the different items are sorted onto shelves successful the main warehouse. There are rows and rows of umbrellas, backpacks, headphones and jackets. Prada nestles against Primark connected the container shelves, adjacent to long, Technicolor rows of stuffed toys. “You tin archer which children’s programmes are fashionable from this shelf,” says Quaye. One twelvemonth it mightiness beryllium afloat of small yellowish Minions, but astatine the infinitesimal it’s lodging the classics: Shreks, Peppa Pigs and bedraggled dolls. It is this portion of the Lost Property empire for which the squad receives the astir fulsome thanks, from parents of children who’ve had sleepless nights without their sidekicks.

Staff present person had their just stock of mysteries. Property manager Marilyn Palmer has worked present for 34 years and remembers receiving a container of ashes which had been near connected the Circle line. They held connected to them aft the 90-day deadline successful the anticipation of uncovering the owner. “Nobody logged an inquiry, truthful we utilized assorted avenues and mentioned it whenever we had an nonfiction published,” says Palmer. After 7 years, they managed to way down the relatives, a German family. “They were ecstatic, they thought it was gone forever.”

As good arsenic the heart-warming, there’s besides the bizarre. “A small aged woman erstwhile came successful and reported that she had mislaid her dentures,” says Quaye. They brought retired the lone brace they’d received successful the past 3 weeks, and the woman picked them up and “popped them successful her mouth”, earlier taking them backmost retired and telling unit they weren’t hers. The woman confessed she had accidentally flushed her existent dentures down the toilet. “I thought I could travel present and effort a brace and spot if they fit,” she admitted to Palmer.

In the greeting and the afternoon, each the alarms from the mislaid phones commencement going off

Things which don’t acceptable into circumstantial categories are enactment connected the “general shelf”, which I fishy sees less reunions. “All spot is property, truthful it volition beryllium registered,” Quaye repeats, arsenic my eyes formed implicit a sack of coal, bags of loo roll, a motorcycle wheel, a rotation of duct portion and a rusty saucepan. Items which are reclaimed tin either beryllium picked up oregon returned successful the post; the squad person sent things arsenic acold arsenic New Zealand and Myanmar. Everything is kept for 3 months, aft which clip they go TfL’s spot and are either distributed to charities oregon auctioned off.

In the 91 years since the Lost Property Office was founded, determination person been immoderate items which unit person been reluctant to portion with. These are proudly connected show successful a miniature depository of sorts connected a mezzanine. Quaye shows maine a stretcher from the Second World War, a taxidermy fox, a state disguise and an past barrister’s wig. There’s besides a wheelchair which present seats a geriatric, life-sized artifact gorilla whom unit person christened Eddie.

Working astatine the Lost Property Office is fantabulous for restoring religion successful humanity. “Before I got this job, I was a spot cynical,” Quaye tells me, “but I ever accidental we person a precise honorable nationalist successful London.” People who travel to cod their bags are often amazed to find that their phones, currency and cards are each inactive there. Engagement rings, Rolex watches and erstwhile adjacent a container with £15,000 successful it person recovered their mode backmost to their rightful owners done the Lost Property Office. “We ever accidental miracles hap here,” Quaye smiles.