Hooligan, a couple of points:
Therefore, if anything untoward was to happen I believe the responsibilty would lie on the shoulders of the controller
I'm sure that's technically correct, but it's not much comfort to anyone concerned if a mid-air results. The final responsibility for safety
always lies with the pilot, and there's a good reason for that.
If you descend below 500ft over the top of these you could yourself be in breach of the low flying regulations
I don't think that would apply here, since low-flying rules don't apply when you're making an approach to land. It's not unusual to get a clearance very late (even though it's unusual to be ignored until this point), so I think strake would have been quite justified in continuing his approach as normal, with the expectation of being cleared to land. Interesting to hear what other think on this one, though - as you say, certainly doesn't harm to do things by the book if matters are going to be taken further.
FFF
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