TRAVELLERS who leave items on trains into Paddington Station (above) have been finding that their calls to lost property are also going awry. Telephone enquirers have been routed 430 miles north to Dunfermline Abbey, one of the oldest churches in Scotland, because of a problem with the station's website.

"It's been going on for four or five weeks now," a spokeswoman for the Abbey said. "People are phoning up constantly; the most we had in one day was about 14, but it is slackening off a bit now. Their reactions have been quite surprising. When they hear the Scottish accent, they say: 'Where are you?' and then they generally ask if we have the right number. We have to say we are terribly sorry, but we don't.

"The trouble with being in the Church is that we have to answer every call, as it might be important. We do always try to pick up the call. We have to be very polite, and say we are not lost property. I think there is something wrong with the dialling code. They have been trying to put it right for some time. Our session clerk has been dealing with it, but he was having to talk with different groups inside Network Rail."

The Paddington Station website lists the phone number for left luggage/lost property as 020 7262 0344; Dunfermline Abbey's number is 01383 724586. A spokesman for Network Rail said that it was currently investigating the fault.