- - Man Collected a Record-Breaking Amount of Traffic Cones Thanks to a Legal Dispute

Erin ClackJanuary 18, 2026 at 6:00 AM

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Drew Gardner/Guinness World Records

David Morgan with some of his traffic cones -

A man collected a record-breaking amount of traffic cones thanks to a legal dispute

David Morgan's collection has been verified by Guinness World Records

“It's really interesting. There are so many different shapes, sizes and colors," he said of the variety in his collection

A man who broke a record for largest collection of traffic cones, according to Guinness World Records, first began amassing the items for a surprising reason.

David Morgan of West Oxfordshire, England, worked as a sales director for a plastics company, one of the biggest producers of traffic cones. The company became involved in a legal dispute with a rival manufacturer over the design of a cone in 1986.

"A competitor wanted to take us to court because they said we had their design," he told the Oxford Mail.

To prove the design existed previously, Morgan scoured the country for different types of traffic cones.

He ultimately won the case for his company — but that didn't bring an end to his cone collecting. "I started collecting cones, and I haven't been able to stop," he told the Oxford Mail, before explaining his process.

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

Morgan added that he would never "pinch" a cone, as he knows they are put in place for safety reasons.

Instead, he said, "I usually ask the foreman, but people aren't really bothered, and most of the cones I get have been stuck on their own for years — sometimes 15 years after the roadworks have finished."

He further explained that he is always keen to add more unusual cones to his assortment.

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

Morgan finds cones all over the world. He even picked one up while on his honeymoon at an airport in Corsica in 1988: a rare 1980 Adapterform model. His oldest — and most prized — cone is a 1956 Lynvale rubber cone from Scotland.

Guinness World Records verified Morgan's traffic cone collection in years past. At the time, he had 137. Years later, the Oxford Mail reported that his collection had grown to more than 500.

Morgan told the outlet at the time that he was still searching for what he described as "the Holy Grail" of cones. "I am still looking for a rare five-sided cone from Manchester," he said. "I hear about sightings, but by the time I get there, they've gone. It's like looking for Elvis."

The man's then-teenage daughter, Poppy, told the Oxford Mail that she's "not a particular fan of cones," but her friends were "all impressed" by her dad's "unusual" collection.

"If I see a new cone I'll always tell him where it is," she added. "Though I wouldn't bring it back myself."

As for Morgan's wife, Breda, she is "used to" her husband's unusual hobby, as he's been collecting cones since they met.

She did concede, however, that "mowing the lawn is difficult when they're out in the garden, but usually they're stacked in the garage, in subdued lighting, to preserve them."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”