Lost and found

Keep calm ...... think back

Think back to where you are sure you last had the lost item. Were you in a restaurant or a bar? What about a self-service till in a shop? Could you have left your card in the card-reader machine? Retrace your footsteps, cross your fingers and, you never know, you could be find yourself reunited with your missing item.

An average of 200,000 pieces of property are lost annually across the London transport network. It might not surprise you to hear that phones are among the most frequently lost but umbrellas, scarves, briefcases and laptops all feature prominently too. There are also always the more unusual items. Was it you who left a set of false teeth on the Central line, or a stuffed gorilla on the Bakerloo line?

It's definitely somewhere

TfL actually has a pretty good track record in reuniting owners with their misplaced property, provided, that is, those owners report it missing in the first place.

The first port of call for anything lost on a Tube train is the station control room. You will usually find it next to the barriers. Any lost property that is handed in spends at least a few hours there before it is sent on to TfL’s lost property warehouse.

Bus depots also have a control room, which lost property found on buses passes through. If you realise in time, and can afford the cost, it may be worth hailing a black cab to tail your bus in an effort to retrieve your item.

Black cab drivers pass on lost property to the police, who then offload it to TfL and that property warehouse again. If you leave your phone in a taxi, try ringing it; cabbies are often known to answer and will arrange to meet you to return the item. You could also try this approach with a phone left in a minicab.

What about credit cards and phones?

As for credit cards, you should ring your bank and cancel them as soon as you realise they are missing. The only possible exception to this is if you are absolutely sure your card is still in the card machine in that store you were in only five minutes ago.

If, despite your best efforts, you cannot locate your property, you may need to claim on your insurance, assuming you have it. You should also report the loss to the police, if only because this may be a prerequisite of an insurance claim.

If you are reading this before visiting London, do think about noting down your phone’s unique IMEI number as this can be used to track it and block its use. Make sure your cards are kept somewhere secure, and remember to take them out of the card machine in shops