How legal dispute led one man to collect a record-breaking amount of traffic cones

A UK man owns a very unusual collection that’s held a world record for more than 25 years.

David Morgan and his largest collection of traffic cones have long been the talk of the town!

When we verified his record in 2000, he had 137 cones, so it’s possible he has loads more now.

In 2007, there were reports that his collection had already grown to 500 and it’s been said he had about two thirds of all types of traffic cones that had ever been made.

But what sparked this unique love of traffic cones?

Well, he once told the Oxford Mail: “It's really interesting. There are so many different shapes, sizes and colours. And the models are always changing."

David, who worked for a plastics company that produced traffic cones, explained he started his collection in 1986 while he was involved in a legal dispute with a rival manufacturer.

They were arguing over the design of a cone and to prove his case, David scoured the country for different types of traffic cones so the designs could be compared. He won the case.

He added to the publication: "A competitor wanted to take us to court because they said we had copied their design. So I started collecting cones - and I haven't been able to stop.

"I'll find out where the roadworks are and go and look for them. But the best ones are from more unusual places, like village halls and from undertakers - who always have different ones, and look after them.”

Read about more record-breaking collections in our dedicated section.

He said he couldn’t resist collecting cones everywhere he went, but that he’d never just steal a cone because it was there as a safety measure – instead, he’d speak with the foreman on the site or swap it with another cone from his collection.

David’s collection is made up of cones from around the world, having even picked one up from the airport while he was on his honeymoon in Corsica in 1988.

Before we verified the record, a letter about the collection was sent to us by journalist Claire Pillinger, who had seen it with her own eyes and was sure it must be record-breaking.

She wrote: “He believes he is the only collector… and I can understand why! People truly gawp when they see them all on his lawn.

“It is truly amazing. I never realized there were so many. He has hundreds more but these are the different ones. He says, as there are only predominantly now five manufacturers left, he has about two thirds of all those ever made.”

At the time, David would often display his collection out in the garden, but did admit they made mowing the lawn rather difficult.