‘Do you know what I had in the back of my Addison Lee? A Snow White outfit.’

“Utterly ordinary to totally bizarre”. That’s how Addison Lee’s lost property department – the place where you go when you’ve left your mobile phone, umbrella or, er…Snow White outfit – describes the things passengers forget in the company’s cars.

Forgotten items range from the mundane – we all know someone who’s left their phone or coat in a car – to a talking bear, tons of cheese and a full-on adult size Snow White outfit.

12 weird things drivers found in their vehicles 

One driver finished his shift to discover a seat full of acrobatic circus equipment, while another was amused to find Ted – the iconic potty-mouthed teddy bear from the movie of the same name – true to size, complete with NSFW catchphrases.

Of all the strange things drivers have handed in to lost and found, cheese might just top the list. Not just a block or two, but an entire boot chocka with every type of cheese you can imagine. The driver described it as ‘very aromatic’.

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Here’s the full list of strange forgotten items

1. Circus equipment
2. The talking bear from TED
3. A sizeable wooden ham cutter
4. A boot full of cheese
5. Military medals (three in total)
6. A Snow White outfit
7. A bronze Buddha statue
8. A double bed (in our courier van)
9. Trombone stand
10. Large bag of scratch cards (all scratched and no winning number)
11. Plastic sword and bone
12. A complete set of swanky luggage

“We drive thousands of passengers around London every week, and each day brings a new surprise, from meeting passengers’ lovely pets to finding their possessions.

We find some of the most astonishing items in our cars, from things that will make your nan blush to loads of random cheese. One thing’s for sure, there’s never a dull day in London!” said Addison Lee’s lost property manager Graham Needham.

Hold on to your phone

The average person wastes around 140 days of their life looking for lost items, so the next time you can’t find your phone or wallet, try checking the last cab you took.

In the space of a year, Addison Lee drivers will find almost 900 forgotten phones, wallets/purses, and pairs of glasses in the backs of their cars, which means absent minded travellers lose around 75 items a month on average.

When it comes to peak times for lost items, it seems we’re probably all a bit too relaxed after Christmas break: January and February win as the worst month for lost phones, with passengers forgetting double the amount of phones at the start of the year than any other time.

What happens to lost stuff?

Whether your item is ordinary or odd, each one goes through the same process to try and get it back into the right hands.

If found in the car, a driver will hand your item into lost property, where it will be stored for one month. That means if you’ve lost something, you have more than enough time to get in touch and ask for it back. If Addison Lee can’t reunite an item with its owner, they are responsibly disposed of or donated to charity.

What to do if you left something in a car

There are several ways you can retrieve something you may have left in a car. Either check the app or your receipt to find the details of the cab you took – this will be helpful when you call or email the company, as they’ll be able to get in touch with the driver. If you paid in cash, get in touch with the contact centre, and they should be able to find the driver you were with.

Don’t worry if it takes a few days. If it’s late at night or the driver’s last job, they may not have had the opportunity to turn in the lost property.

If you think you’ve lost something in an Addison Lee, you can email lostproperty@addisonlee.com to find out.

Need a lift?

We’ll take you anywhere you need to go safely and fast, and you can bring as much cheese as you want. Book an Addison Lee