I would like to know the contents of the TfL lost property department as of today's date. I would like the information broken down with a brief summary of items and the quantity.

---

TfL Ref: FOI-0566-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 24^th May 2019 asking for information about lost property.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require.

You asked:

“I would like to know the contents of the TfL lost property department as of today's date. I would like the information broken down with a brief summary of items and the quantity.”

The table below shows the number of items being held in our storage rooms as of 24^th May 2019.

The Lost Property Office (LPO) handles property found on the following TfL services: London Buses, London Underground, London Overground, TfL Rail, Docklands Light Railway, Black Cab taxi, Victoria Coach Station, Emirates Air Line, London Transport Museum, TfL buildings and items handed in directly to the LPO. Items found on Trams are held at the Tramlink Shop in Croydon and are not included in these figures

Property items older than 3 months are disposed of and are not included in these figures.

Category	Items in Storage
Bags	7,660
Books, Documents and Cards	10,140
Clothing	10,147
Computing / personal electronics	316
Eyewear	3,605
Jewellery	1,346
Keys	2,922
Miscellaneous	7,445
Telephones	4,613
Umbrellas	1,734
Wallets and Purses	4,600
Total items in Storage (1)	54,528

(1) Items such as bags and clothing may contain other property including mobile phones, keys or wallets.

For the purpose of this report, they are recorded as a single found item excluding contents.

Note that the LPO handles more than 300,000 items per year, with more than a fifth (22 per cent) being reunited with their owners. The LPO keeps all items for three months and tries to reunite them with their owners through contact information found on the property or through matching an item to a customer enquiry about a lost item. After three months any unclaimed items have any personal data removed and securely destroyed before they are either donated to charities including The Salvation Army, The British Red Cross and Scope, or recycled, sold or disposed of. Any revenue generated from unclaimed items contributes towards the cost of running the LPO.

More information about lost property on our services can be found on our website here:

https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/lost-property

If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely,

David Wells

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

Back to top

---