New lost property rules to help if you lose your phone, jewellery, keys or purse in a taxi in Chorley

People who lose their valuables in a taxi are being given a helping hand in Chorley.

Chorley Borough Council has brought in new rules to make it easier for items to be runited with owners. It came after the Chorley Taxi Association (CTA) notified officers that drivers had no where to take items after police stations stopped taking in lost property four years ago.

After being contacted by CTA founder Shaz Malik, a public safety committee meeting was held, and it was agreed that the council would take in items not reunited by taxi drivers after 72 hours. They will keep hold of them for three months.

Click here for more information on lost property in Chorley

Chair of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee, Councillor Matthew Lynch said: "After we became aware that licensed drivers no longer have somewhere to hand in lost property (found inside taxis or handed to them) in the event they cannot reunite the property with its owner, we made an amendment to those licence conditions so that licensed drivers can now hand the property in at our council offices on Union Street."

What are the rules?

Where property has been left in a licensed vehicle, the driver has a duty to attempt to reunite that property with the owner. This may not always be possible due to the driver being unaware of who left the property, being unable to get in contact with the person or some other reason.

Where a driver finds and/or has property handed to them which has been left in the vehicle, and which he has been unable to reunite with the owner, the driver should return that property to the Council Offices within 72 hours of that property being handed to him. The council will take custody of the item and will record relevant details in a dedicated register.

The council will store items which have been handed in to us for a maximum of three months from it being handed in. After this, the item will be destroyed. Any money which is returned to the council will be donated to the Mayor's Charity after thee months have elapsed. 

Shaz Malik said: "At CTA, we strive to reunite lost property with its rightful owners as quickly as possible. To facilitate this process, we have created a form on our website where individuals can report any lost items. The information provided is then circulated among our CTA members, this is done pretty quickly, we operate 24 hours."

Access the CTA lost property site here: https://www.chorleytaxiassociation.co.uk/lostpreperty