WE’VE all done it. The bags are packed; the taxi is waiting; the flight leaves in two hours. But then, halfway to the airport, realisation dawns that we've left something behind. Leaving items in hotel rooms is an occupational hazard for the business traveller. Hotel safes form a particular blind spot. In a best case scenario losses might be limited to some cheap toiletries, a book or an easily replaceable piece of clothing. More serious is the loss of a smartphone, tablet or laptop. This writer has left a veritable treasure trove behind over the years, including a drawer full of socks and pants in a hotel in Edinburgh. But in some cases the abandoned items are enough to raise eyebrows among the most experienced of room cleaners. Travelodge, a British hotel chain, recently released its annual list of some of the bizarre items forgotten by its guests. The list includes a bag full of prosthetic limbs, a suitcase of designer Jimmy Choo shoes, a house made out of bread and a Shetland pony named Pudding. People have also checked-out without remembering to take companions with them, leaving friends or relatives stranded in hotel rooms. This is a mistake that even world leaders are prone to; David Cameron, the British prime minister, left his eight year old daughter behind in a pub after he had popped there for lunch in 2012.

Of more concern to business travellers (excepting horse dealers and travelling prosthetic-limb salesmen) might be the large sums of cash, business contracts or legal documents such as prenuptial agreements that were also left behind in hotel rooms last year. More mundanely the 12,000 laptops, tablets and mobile phones Travelodges discovered must make a sizeable dent in expense and insurance claims.

Another hotel room staple, it seems, are sex toys and dolls. According to a survey by laterooms.com last June, these accounted for 30% of items that are left behind. There is a good reason for this. If you happen to leave your phone behind you might be inclined to go back and pick it up. If it's a blow-up sheep you will no doubt want to get as far away as possible before the ground swallows you up.