You won't believe what people leave on the back seat of black cabs!

What's that? Oh. You would believe it? Because you have forgotten things in the past, and it is actually a fairly common thing? Ah, well. Never mind that now, because just in case you personally have never left an artificial leg, aunt or sticky deposit in a cab, a technology firm called Credant Technologies has done some research into what people do leave behind.

Surprise, surprise that the small, fall-out-of-pocket-sized mobile phone is a fairly regularly forgotten item. A "staggering" 55,843 mobile phones have been left in cabs over the last six months, just in London. That's enough to fill something rather large, or perhaps 12,000 taxis - frustratingly, we can't be sure without having access to this mountain of gadgetry.

Still, when compared to the number of other items left behind, lost mobiles beat all comers.

Twelve dead pheasants? Artificial limbs? Hop off, you can't compete with the mobile army. And as for false teeth - there would have to be a lot of sunken jaws in the metropolis if they are to be seen as serious competitors.

Apparently Credant surveyed 300 cabbies for the research, which has something to do with a security software solution it offers. But we can't help but wonder if they mean 300 drivers polled during expenses-funded rides to and from any number of "let's go to the pub and think of another survey" brainstorming sessions.

We would give them a call, but we've all just come back from the pub in a cab, and yeah... that's right, we can't be bothered.

Author: David Neal