Travel

People get up to a lot of weird stuff in hotels and in no way is this better shown than in a newly-published list of oddities left behind in budget hotels. Read it and weep.

Evidently, staff at the British hotel chain Travelodge had an eventful time of it in 2011. Clearing out guests rooms for the chain is obviously not for the faint-hearted as the company have published a list of all the things their guests managed to leave behind last year.

Some of the abandoned 'treasures' bordered on the bizarre, while others were fantastic. Why anyone would have a Mr Blobby costume was probably the first question staff at the Milton Keynes hotel asked themselves when they found Noel Edmund's insanely annoying old pal. Quickly followed, I'd imagine, by how a costume like that would escape your attention when packing.

Jon Hendry Pickup, from Travelodge, said of the finds: “Each year our 'Lost and Found' box gets filled with some remarkable items. It just goes to show the amazing cross section of people stay in our hotels”. Bit of an understatement there, Jon.

One forgetful guest managed to leave behind a box of watches worth £50,000. Another man, who obviously wasn't that close to his wife, left her ashes behind.

Finally, staff at the Nuneaton hotel were gobsmacked to find a winter wonderland in one room. The couple using the room hasdleft behind a full-size Christmas tree complete with decorations, lights, a model reindeer and a Santa Claus outfit. It sounds like Santa came more than once last year...