THE world’s largest garage sale is to be held in California, with everything from impounded cars to old espresso machines going on the block, in the latest effort by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor, to solve the Golden State’s budget crisis.

The housekeeping exercise, expected to raise tens of millions of dollars for California’s central coffers, is part of the former Mr Universe’s pledge to make the cash-starved state more efficient.

According to Fred Aguiar, secretary of California’s State and Consumer Services Agency, the state leases warehouses that are stacked with giant crates, each one filled with surplus state goods, most of which have been “sitting here for years, gathering dust”. One crate holds goods from a department that was abolished two years ago. Mr Aguiar said: “Everyone, every once in a while, has to clean out their garage. The state of California has never cleaned out its garage. The governor has made it very clear: let’s get this cleaned up.”

Among the surplus property is a 1995 Ford Mustang, with 48,000 miles on the clock, seized by South Lake Tahoe police. There are also three aircraft engines, a popcorn machine, 3,000 light bulbs for traffic signals, a lemonade dispenser and at least one forklift truck in the 100,000sq ft warehouse.

Many of the items have come from bankrupt companies forfeiting assets. State warehouse workers have also sorted through boxes containing thousands of knives, scissors and nail clippers — and one abandoned electric cattle prod — seized at airport security checkpoints. “Hand tools, power tools — I don’t know what they were thinking trying to get on a plane with this,” Mr Aguiar said.

Other items in the sale include office furniture, tools, computers, restaurant equipment, jewellery and even baseball cards. Bargain-hunters who cannot make it to the Department of General Services’ surplus warehouse in Sacramento today or tomorrow need not worry: many items will be sold on eBay, the internet auction house. The seller’s name will be ‘californiagold2000’.

Mr Aguiar said that he did not know exactly how much money the sale would raise, but that by ridding itself of so much stuff, the state would definitely save money on warehouse rents.

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