Europcar the leader in car hire services in Europe for business and leisure users, hires out thousands of vehicles every day. But the variety of weird and wonderful items left by customers never fails to puzzle Europcar staff.

Unsurprisingly, sunglasses, CDs and loose change are the most common items left in Europcar vehicles. However, some customers carry more intriguing cargo when they travel, as Europcar’s lost property department has recently reported.

Unusual Items Left in Europcar’s Rental Cars in 2012

  A live mouse in a cage
  Two 6×10 ft oil paintings
  Ashes in an urn
  30 plants
  A hedge trimmer

It was Europcar’s Belfast City Airport branch that found an urn of ashes when a vehicle was returned.  The ashes of a customer’s mother had been brought over from South Africa and the customer was relieved to have them back so that she could scatter them at her mother’s birth place.

And all the glasses that go unclaimed are recycled as part of Europcar’s ‘Go Green’ pledge.

But probably the best item left behind was discovered by staff at Europcar’s Blackpool Station location.  It was a life-size dummy, dressed as an old lady and left in the boot of a Ford Focus. The Europcar driver had the fright of his life when he thought he’d found a body!

“Judging from our lost property, our vehicles have a tale to tell” said Ken McCall, Managing Director, Europcar UK Group.  “But our staff always go out of their way to reunite our customers with their forgotten items, no matter how bizarre.”