From a Forest season ticket to glass eyes – the unusual things left behind in lost property

Rock City, East Midlands Airport, Stagecoach East Midlands and East Midlands Trains, Travel Lodge and the intu Victoria and Broadmarsh shopping centres have all revealed the common and strange items forgotten by their customers in 2016.

At Rock City, a panto horse, jousting pole, Cinderella outfits and tutus were handed to lost property and, according to a spokesman, had often been worn by men for the night!

Lost items are kept at the venue for a month and logged. But if they remain unclaimed, staff pass them to a charity shop – White Rose in Hockley is a favourite – or at Christmas to a homeless charity such as Shelter, and help raise hundreds of pounds every year. East Midlands Airport lost and found

The main items clubbers have forgotten have included their coats and jackets, including popular and more pricey labels likes Burberry and North Face, as well as shirts and other clothing. Phones, wallets, purses, jewellery are handed to police if not claimed.East Midlands Airport lost Property

A spokesman said it is worth checking with them whether something has been handed in as people are very honest – nine times out of ten Rock City is able to help somebody who has lost something.

“On a busy night the club might be left with approximately ten jackets, two to three mobile phones, ten purses/wallets. Very often these are handed in intact – still with money, keys etc in them, which often surprises/delights the claimants”.

East Midlands Airport listed its most unusual items in lost property as false teeth, a head massager, roll of butter and dinosaur mosaic art.

More common items included belts, umbrellas, passports/IDs, jewellery, mobiles, clothing items, tops, hats, scarfs, gloves and keys.

A spokesperson said: “East Midlands Airport does have some occasional strange lost property items; including false teeth and DIY items, which are usually attributed to passengers who are travelling to their second homes abroad. More common lost property items include clothing, accessories and jewellery. In the majority of cases, items that are misplaced while on the airport site are claimed shortly afterwards and we do our upmost to ensure a smooth return to their owner.”

The strangest items left on Stagecoach East Midlands and East Midlands Trains ranged from lost prosthetic limbs, false teeth to a glass eye, odd shoes and televisions. Common items included mobile phones, keys, umbrellas, hats and gloves.

Meanwhile, at Travelodge, a Klingon phrase book was left at its Riverside Retail Park site, as well as a no entry sign, whilst a Nottingham Forest season ticket was left at its hotel on Maid Marian Way and a set of monocles at their Wollaton Vale hotel.

Nationwide, 17 million people passed through their foyers and stayed at Travelodges sites last year leaving: a Swarovski encrusted wedding cake, a rice cooker, a collection of lightsabers, a Louis Vuitton wallet, a 3D model of London, manuals on how to fly a plane, a stamp collection dating back 50 years and a Chewbacca costume.

And Nottingham’s intu shopping centres reported their lost property store had collected everything from crutches, bikes, walking sticks, false teeth, glasses, food and DVDs, to money, pushchairs, wheelchairs and plants.

Nigel Wheatley, general manager for intu in Nottingham, said: “We have had many weird and wonderful things handed into our lost property including: crutches, false teeth, plants, food, walking sticks and bikes. Any items handed in to lost property are kept for three months – except perishables –in case someone comes to collect them.

“Any items that remain uncollected are donated to a local charity. Often money is also handed in to lost property, which after three months is donated to our annual charity, which is currently PASIC [The Parents’ Association for Seriously Ill Children]”