Charity to give lost 1948 London Olympic photos to archive

A charity is to hand over lost photos believed to show the 1948 London Olympics after an "extensive search" for their owners proved fruitless.

The film roll was found among thousands of items donated to the Disabled Photographers' Society (DPS).

Agi Ch, of the DPS, was "amazed" to find the photos last year after scanning film found in Birmingham.

The original negatives and prints will be donated to the British Olympic Association's archive in London.

Ms Ch, the charity's exhibition secretary, appealed for help in finding the owners last year after scanning negatives she found at the DPS stand at the NEC's Photography Show in 2019.

She believes they were with camera equipment donated after a clear-out.

Ms Chi, a fine arts photographer, believes the shots were taken by a spectator in the crowd at Wembley stadium. The roll also included family pictures.

The cost of developing film at the time meant pictures were generally only taken at "special moments", she said.

"Unfortunately, our extensive search for the original owners of the 1948 London Olympic images has proved to be fruitless so far," Ms Ch said.

"They will be handed over to the archive, in London, in the next few weeks and the search for the original owners or their family will continue.

"Hopefully others can now also enjoy seeing these very rare images from the 1948 Olympic games too."

London hosted the huge event in the aftermath of World War Two, with rationing still in place. It became known as the Austerity Games.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]