I'm amazed at you asking this!
Glad I was able to amaze you! Thanks for all the answers though. Clears that up nicely.
I've heard VFR clearances involving instrument flight-routeings being given by controllers, however only once or twice and never thought about asking if it was allowed or not.
All the VFR practical training we had at the ATC college involved the aircraft following roads which obviously contributed to my (lack of) understanding. Also a huge shame we trainee ATCO's no longer get any flying training!!