This problem at EGAA has been discussed here before. Have a word with the SATCO panpan', or failing that GATCO or possibly GA Chirp. I don't know their current procedures, but if that is a genuine response to a CTR transit request, it sounds odd. I did 18 years on approach radar, in Rule 21, (Class A), and later Class D Airspace. Even if the radar at EGAA was u/s, there should be some way of accommodating VFR transits.