Bidders at one London auction house are getting thrills bidding for luggage filled with strangers' clothes.
Bags which have been lost by airlines are ending up at the Greasby's auction house in Ealing and are being bought up by eager Londoners driven by a sense of curiosity and the search for profit.
Hannah Taylor, a 32-year-old hairdresser, told the AFP that she had arrived at the sale with a plan to buy luggage and then sell its contents in an online auction.
"It's a hobby," she said. "I've come to see, maybe I'll get designer gear. It's pot luck."
Airlines are obliged by the International Air Transport Association to spend 100 days tracking down the owners of stray bags, after which they are sent to auction houses.
The recent baggage handling problems and luggage pile-up at Terminal 5 are still a few weeks short of reaching the 100-day mark, but when that comes there is certain to be a bonanza for lost luggage fans like Taylor.
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