Immobilise asked what people would do if they found a mobile phone left on a cinema seat. Here’s what we found.

We’re pleased to see that 76% of our respondents knew that they should hand it into the cinema’s reception. All public venues will have a policy for handling found property, and when the owner misses their phone, they are likely to assume that the cinema has it somewhere safe.

6% said they’d give it to charity, which is admirable but we’d suggest against it. The old sayings “finders keepers” and “possession is nine-tenths of the law” are actually very wide of the mark. You don’t own what you find, and you can’t legitimately gift things you don’t own, no matter how well-intentioned.

4% said they’d leave it where it is. Perhaps the second-best option but you can’t be sure the next finder will be as honest as you!

The rest of our audience said they’d drop it off at a police station. This one definitely has its place but only if you find something out in the street rather than on some known business premises. Check your local force policy; most will accept found reports online now and are unlikely to physically take found property unless it’s likely to have personal data on it, is dangerous, or is of high value.

Police will usually check Recipero’s systems for registered owners so just in case you become a victim of a loss, make sure to register your property at immobilise.com as soon as possible!