Have you forgotten something?

But these are just two of the weird and wonderful items left in hire cars.

Other fascinating finds include slippers, leg waxing kit, a set of false teeth, sandwich toaster and even a wig.

Car rental companies are reporting an increase in the number of unusual discoveries – but, even more worryingly, drivers are forgetting important stuff too.

Linda Paul, from Thrifty Car and Van Rental, said: “While some of the more bizarre finds might not be missed, losing your handbag, mobile phone or even your engagement ring is a different matter entirely.”

She said the company ensures all items left behind are booked into lost property, “and we always try to locate the rightful owner.”

At Thrifty’s Bournemouth branch, manager Susan Simpson said: “We have found some weird and wonderful things over the years. The most unusual one was an engagement ring which was in the glove box. We did manage to track down the couple, who were rather sheepish about it and didn’t give too much away but we suspected that perhaps everything hadn’t quite gone according to plan.

“We also found a wig which gave us a bit of a giggle. It certainly makes a change from the usual items that people tend to be left behind like mobile phones, sat navs and CDs.”

Hotels and guesthouses, a key part of the tourism-based economy in the Bournemouth and Poole area, report that the items most often left behind by absent-minded guests are mobile phone chargers – but they also forget dentures, spectacles, toothbrushes, hair-straighteners and underwear (more understandable in a hotel room than a hire car).

One hotel guest managed to forget a £2,000 Gucci watch, while another mislaid a monk’s fancy dress outfit.

Universities, meanwhile, find that when students leave for their holidays they are leaving behind much more than the traditional stolen traffic cones and cardboard cut-outs – some of the more unusual discoveries in halls of residence include a 6ft snake, a pair of budgies and a human skeleton.