Re: Swanwick ATC frequencies (LACC)
This actually raises quite an interesting point which, as a radio amateur and CB user I feel able to comment on.
Ofcom states that you are permitted to listen to broadcasts intended for public reception eg BBC, other commercial stations, Radio Amateurs, CB etc. This is the same Ofcom that explicitly prohibits radio amateurs and CB users from broadcasting (defined as a transmission intended for the reception of multiple listeners). Radio Amateurs (and, in general, CB users) make transmissions to specific stations - refered to by callsign, much like a transmission to a specific aircraft. These are 'private' communications and therefore (by Ofcoms definitions) illegal to listen in to. There are circumstances where radio amateurs, cb users and indeed aircraft may broadcast, in radio amateur and CB terms, this may be a CQ call and for aircraft (and amateurs & CB), mayday, pan pan, ATIS, nav beacons etc are all intended for mass-reception - i.e. a broadcast and therefore legal to listen to.
Sounds like too much legal mumbo-jumbo to be, appologies for the long post.
Matt