WITH more than 100 forgotten and mislaid items collected on-board its buses on a daily basis, a North-East bus company has launched an online 'lost and found' service.

Arriva North-East, which operates services across Darlington and Stockton, has received in excess of 35,000 phone calls from customers this year alone, all desperate to be reunited with their possessions – with missing items including everything from false teeth and umbrellas, to musical instruments, walking frames and even a few children in prams.

Now, to ensure people are able to relocate their property swiftly and safely, Arriva is asking those who are trying to track down their lost items to contact them first through social media before picking up the phone.

Area managing director Nick Knox said: “If you can name it, we’ve probably found it on the back of a bus at some point.

"We’ve had lonesome dogs, live ferrets, glass eyes, prosthetic limbs, handcuffs, and all manner of weird and wonderful bits and pieces.

"And whilst it sounds entertaining on the surface, we know only too well how distressing forgetting things on public transport can be, so we really want to make it easier for our customers to get in touch with us in their hour of need."

he added: “With more and more people using Twitter and Facebook as their favoured means of communication, the likelihood of someone finding and posting about something they have found on-board is quite high.

"And by using our special hashtag of #FindMeArriva we can ensure that our dedicated customer service teams can monitor feeds, respond and hopefully return lost property faster than they ever could previously."

Customers looking to relocate their lost property should connect with Arriva on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtage #FindMeArriva