Originally Posted by
sunrisegirl
Definitely. We get lots of stuff handed in and it's kept in the baggage office for a period of, I believe, 3 months. The office at LGW is full of phones, iPods, books, coats, scarves and all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff left on aircraft, in lounges, etc.
The lady is right that they can't open an official case, but don't lose all hope.
If you get no job talking to them from SYD, do ask on your arrival at LHR if they can double check for you.
Good luck
Thanks, Sunrisegirl, I will definitely ask on the way home (it costs nothing to ask!).
After talking to some of the locals here, I walked down to the local police station (rather than talking on the phone as I did before), and the constable was happy to fill in a form and provide me with a reference number. He did make jokes about sharing the information with interpol since it wasn't certain where it had been lost exactly, but it was all good-natured :-). So at least I should have the right paperwork to claim on the travel insurance.