A £2,300 camera, two Cartier watches and a top-of-the-range oboe worth £600 are among the valuables which were left on London's tubes and buses this year.
Transport for London pocketed almost £300,000 between January and October through selling off more than 4,000 items of property - such as Apple Macbooks and jewellery - which were left on the transport network.
In total, there were more than 260,000 items left on the different modes of transport during the ten-month period - the largest total for several years.
The most expensive item left on London transport this year was a Canon DSLR camera, which sold for £2,301 - complete with the lens - at auction
A Cabart oboe was one of the 260,000 items left by passengers on the Transport for London network. It went on to fetch £599 at auction
A freedom of information request by the Evening Standard revealed that the highest-valued item sold at auction was a Canon EOS digital camera and lens, which went for £2,301 in March.
A Cabart oboe, sold in the same month, raised £599.
Two months later, a Cartier Panthère wristwatch - complete with an 18-carat gold case and bracelet - sold for £1,480, while another ladies Cartier watch sold for £600.
Among the top 10 most expensive auction items were Apple laptops, which were sold for up to £650. They can cost up to £1,599 new.
Two Cartier watches sold for almost £2,100 after being sold by the TfL Lost Property Office
TfL says it does not profit from the proceeds. Instead, the income subsidises the cost of running its Baker Street lost property office, now in its 80th year.
Meanwhile, the 260,000 lost items handled by the property office included 20,309 mobile phones, 18,433 Oyster card holders and 11,580 wallets or purses.
These three items have remained the three most likely items to be lost for the past three years.
More than 80 per cent of the unclaimed items were given to charities such as the Salvation Army and the British Red Cross after three months.
This year - for the eighth time - more than 200 toys were donated to the Salvation Army from TfL's Lost Property office to hand out to children in Lewisham in time for Christmas.
The brand new toys - still in their original packaging - include dolls, teddy bears and toy cars, as well as board games and electronic gadgets.
Around 25 per cent of items found on TfL services are returned to their owner.
Sue Tyler, of TfL's lost property office, said: 'The fact that so many items have been handed in over 80 years is a testament to the honesty of the travelling public in London.'
She added: 'It is a shame the children's toys were not reclaimed by their owners, but it is just wonderful to know they will now bring smiles to children who might have otherwise gone without.'
TfL's transport services include London Buses, London Underground, London Overground, the Dockland Light Railway, licensed taxis, Victoria Coach Station and the Emirates Air Line cable car.
Over the years, items which have been handed in include false teeth and limbs, wedding dresses, stuffed animals, urns of ashes and even a parachute.
TEN MOST EXPENSIVE ITEMS SOLD BY TRANSPORT FOR LONDON AT AUCTION
Several Apple Macbooks were sold at auction
- Canon EOS 5D DSLR camera with 24-70mm lense - £2,301
- Ladies' Cartier Panthere wristwatch, 18-carat gold case and bracelet - £1,480
- Apple MacBook Air 13.3" laptop - £650
- Cartier wristwatch with black leather strap - £600
- Cabart A Paris 74 model wooden oboe - £599
- Apple Macbook Pro 15" laptop - £585
- Apple Macbook Pro 13.3" laptop - £521
- Apple Macbook Air 13.3" laptop - £510
- Apple Macbook Air 13.3" laptop - £495
- Apple Macbook Pro 13.3" laptop - £482
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2886539/Cartier-watches-2-000-camera-OBOE-valuable-valuables-left-London-s-Tubes-buses-revealed.html#ixzz3MsFQfPY9
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