Uncensored: red London bus pictures

London is famed the world over for its red double decker buses. Two Austrian visitors to London were made to delete images that they had taken, earlier today, of a double decker London bus in Walthamstow, East London. Father and son, Klaus and Loris Matzka, were ordered to delete their images by two police officers who cited anti-terrorism laws. Matzka senior was told that photographing anything to do with public transport was "strictly forbidden". What's more, the officers made a note of their hotel address, passport numbers and other personal details.

Ordinarily, taking pictures of red London buses - as long as the photographer is not endangering their own safety - does not incur the wrath of police officers.

Visitors and locals alike can still enjoy a trip on a Routemaster bus - the type of red double decker bus that springs in to my mind when I think of a stereotypical London bus - on two heritage routes in the British capital.

Enjoy a ride on a Routemaster and a walk from St Paul's Cathedral, over the Millennium Bridge along the South Bank to the Tower of London with the Ride and Stride London audio downloadable tour.

The prototype Routemaster appeared in 1954. Five years later Routemasters entered service in numbers in 1959 and a production run spanning seven years saw nearly 3000 built. The bus quickly became a favourite with Londoners and although its design life was seventeen years, it was so uniquely suited to London’s traffic that no one wanted to get rid of it. The iconic Routemaster was withdrawn from service in 2005.

There are five Walk Talk Tour London city guides. Each podcast guided tour retails at £5.95. Purchase two tours simultaneously and receive a twenty per cent discount. All of the Walk Talk Tour London travel guides are available in English, French, German and Spanish. To hear an audio sample from the Ride and Stride mp3 guided tour please click here.

Routemaster bus fans living or staying in the North West of England are in for a treat tomorrow with the annual London Bus Day being staged at Museum of Transport Manchester. For more information please click here.

Independent minded travellers can go walk about in Manchester, too, with the Manchester: Then & Now audio downloadable guide. Visitors can also hire the tour from the city's Visitor Information Centre in the Town Hall Extension, on Lloyd Street.