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Wednesday, 13 February 2008, 13:20 GMT

'Cop shop' items under the hammer

By Niall Blaney
BBC News

Many of the items handed in are bikes Lost property recovered by the police is set to go under the hammer in County Armagh.

Items found across Northern Ireland are to be sold off in a police auction in Portadown.

Bikes, digital cameras, power washers and jewelry are among the goods for sale in the PSNI's Lost and Found Property Auction on Friday.

The Police Lost and Found Department in Belfast said the majority of items were bicycles.

"They are all shapes and sizes and in all sorts of conditions. There are some really nice bikes which have hardly been ridden at all," said a department spokeswoman.

"The goods come from all over the country, not just from Belfast. If someone hands something in to police, it will be kept for 28 days and if we cannot trace the owner then the person can keep it.

"It was a life-size green figure made of fibre glass which looked like an alien - it was well over 5 foot and it was quite scary going into the store in the dark and seeing it standing there"


"The awful thing is that when someone loses something like a bike, they just claim for a new one from insurance, and we get very few calls asking to see if their bike has been handed in."

However, it is not just bikes which are to be found in the PSNI's lost and found store.

'Treated as lost'

This Friday's auction also includes baby buggies, baby travel cots, a child car seat, fishing rods, sleeping bags and two sets of golf clubs.

"We don't deal with any seized property, it is all lost and found," said the spokeswoman.

"With some of the items you do wonder if it has been stolen and we try and trace the owners. But if there is no evidence that it is stolen, then it is treated as lost."

Items such as digitial cameras are also up for auction

However, she said she had previously dealt with a piece of property which quite literally fell off the back of a lorry.

"A man was driving behind a delivery lorry and a black leather sofa fell of the back.

"It was brand new and still in its plastic packaging. But there were no signs on the lorry and no labels on the packaging.

"We contacted several furniture companies, but without success and the man ended up keeping the sofa."

One of the more unusual items handed into the department was thought to have been part of an art project, she said.

"It was a life-size green figure made of fibre glass which looked like an alien - it was well over 5 foot and it was quite scary going into the store in the dark and seeing it standing there."

The profits from the auction, which takes place at Wilson's, will be divided among four charities nominated by the PSNI.




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