Inside London's lost property treasure trove

He's a stuffed gorilla who was left on the London Underground several years ago.

Ever since, he's been living in Transport for London's lost property office on Baker Street.

Every day around a thousand items are handed in after being found on tubes, trains, buses and taxis.

5 live's Emma Barnett was given a tour to see what other bizarre things have been left behind over the years.

Of the 15 million items to have passed through over the years, office manager Paul Cowen says this is among the strangest.

"It was a chap called Thomas who sat on my desk for the best part of five years," he told 5 live.

Thomas' ashes were eventually reunited with his family.

Elsewhere in the office, there's a huge rack full of lost crutches, which Paul finds particularly strange.

"Either there are miraculous curing powers on the London Underground, or there's a lot of people hopping around without their crutches."

In the past he's also dealth with breast implants and prosthetic limbs.

As you'd expect, there are thousands of items of clothing left unclaimed.

Wedding dresses and rings have also been lost on the network.

As Paul puts it, "When someone rings up and says: 'Help I've lost my wedding ring and I'm getting married on Friday', you snap into action mode pretty quickly."

Other bizarre items include skis, a theatrical coffin, a pile of sombreros, microwaves and expensive TVs.

Office manager Paul models some of the merchandise

It seems many people get onto the tube with a bike, and leave on foot.

There's a whole wheelie bin full of keys which fills up every few weeks, and thousands of mobile phones including the very latest models.

Of the dozens of large suitcases piled up in the office, some are empty but others are packed "completely full of people's lives" according to Paul.

He questions what happens to the person who left behind a parachute: "You do wonder at what point did somebody recognise they've lost their parachute? Hopefully before they've gone up in a plane."

This is Paul's message to passengers: "If you've lost something don't give up hope. There are a lot of honest people out there."

One of the most honest is probably the black cab driver who handed in an envelope containing £15,000 in cash.

The money was returned to its rightful and very grateful owner.

As well as 11,000 umbrellas, the office also receives 43,000 items of clothing and 14,000 pairs of glasses each year.

Most lost items are catalogued and held for three months, before being donated to charity, recycled, sold at auction or disposed responsibly.

As for Eddie, he's become an unofficial mascot for the lost property office.

He's also been immortalised on the cover of the new Night Tube map, in a portrait by the artist Pio Abad.

Paul says it would be a wrench, but if Eddie's rightful owner came forward (and could prove it), he would be allowed to go home.