Mentioned at the time was the fact that the holding clearance issued by the controller was in an American format not used in the UK and therefore likely to confuse the pilots. I believe I am right in saying that if, on first contact with the controller, you are instructed; "Roger 1008, maintain (height given), FP, 150, left hand" that is a clearance to the FP beacon, Left Hand Turns, inbound track to the beacon is 150 degrees and perfectly acceptable in the USA. In the UK we would expect something along the lines of, "Roger 1008, proceed to the FP beacon to hold, at (height given), the inbound track is 150 degrees with Left Turns in the hold, call entering the hold".