A man had a spot of bother with the English Heritage over whether he was allowed to take a picture of himself, by his trusty motor, in front of Carlisle Castle.

Robert Reid, an amateur photographer, was told by a security guard that he needed permission to take the snap.

Permission that would set him back £100, and for what, to take picture to pop into his own photobook?

Later on English Heritage clarified the matter, saying that the security guard had incorrectly told Mr Reid that he couldn't take a picture.

A spokeswoman said: "While commercial photography at our sites does require permission and incurs a small fee, members of the public are free to take images for their own personal use."

Similar confusion over commercial rights to pictures occurred roughly nine months ago when English Heritage sent an email to photographers that effectively prohibited them from taking pictures of Stonehenge.

The email read: "Please be aware that any images of Stonehenge cannot be used for any commercial interest. All commercial interest to sell images must be directed to English Heritage."

Naturally, there was outrage, to which English Heritage promptly replied that it did not control the copyright to images of Stonehenge.