A WALLET or a set of keys perhaps . . . but when a bowling ball, fishing rod and a set of crutches turned up at a lost property office in Bolton, staff were left scratching their heads.

The bizarre finds are among a list of items found minus their owners at the Market Place shopping centre in Bolton.

Manager Rod Neasham said: "Over the past year, we have had all sorts of strange things left behind.

"Some of the more unusual items include a pair of crutches, a blind man's stick, a 10-pin bowling ball, an electric iron, a fishing rod and a 10 pack of condoms.

"We gave the crutches to a charity shop, no one was man enough to come back for the condoms, and the iron was given to the finder."

A national survey of 1,000 people, conducted by photography business Snappy Snaps, found that nine out of 10 people admitted to losing something each day, with keys being the most commonly misplaced items.

Other items often misplaced include glasses, hats, wallets scarves and gloves.

The lost property office at the Royal Bolton Hospital has also received some strange items.

A spokesman said: "We get a lot of lost property left here and often it is valuable, such as wallets and watches and credits cards are sometimes left next to the cash machine.

"We have had false teeth left behind and sometimes we get teddies left as well. It can be visitors and staff that leave items behind, as well as the patients."

Items which are left at civic buildings in the borough, such as libraries and the town hall, are collected by Bolton Council.

A spokesman said: "We have things collected from the libraries, museums and one-stop shop on a daily basis.

"These items often include, hats, glasses, umbrellas and gloves. We have a lot of people ring and ask if we have had keys handed in.

"Some of the more unusual items we have had handed in include food shopping, and once we had a foot pump for inflating a tyre.

"If there is any ID with the item, we make every effort to return it to its rightful owner.

"If it is not claimed after three months, we contact the finder or we pass on items to charity shops."

The Snappy Snaps survey also found that three quarters of people said they had forgotten an important date, such as a wedding anniversary or a partner's birthday.

And 89 per cent of people had mistakenly lost or deleted digital photographs.