A FATHER and his teenage son have complained to the police after two officers allegedly forced them to delete photos of Walthamstow buses in the interests of preventing terrorism.

Klaus Matzka from Vienna, Austria, wrote a letter to the Guardian outlining the “nasty incident” he claims happened in early April, which he said has “killed interest” in returning to London.

The dad said he had been taking pictures of double-decker buses with my son, when they were approached by two policemen who told them it is forbidden to take pictures of transport.

The keen urban photographer said their names, passport numbers and London hotel address were noted and alleges they were forced to delete all pictures of transport on their camera taken during their holiday.

The Metropolitan police said it is investigating the allegations.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP expressed concern over the allegations.

She said: “Today’s reports are very worrying. We can understand police are concerned about the prevention of terrorism but there's an issue of proportionality.

“If they believe it is appropriate to use anti-terrorism powers in this way, this should be properly incorporated into law, after a process of public consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny.

“If the police are operating an exclusion zone to impose restrictions on people’s activities in the capital it should be clearly signed so people know where they stand.

"It increasingly feels as if we are living in a shadow state where we don't know what the rules are because they are applied at random.”

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman confirmed that PSCOs, working for Waltham Forest Borough’s Safer Transport Team, were alerted to two men taking photographs in Walthamstow Central bus station.

The spokeswoman said: "They approached the two men and asked them to account for their actions as part of their 'Stop and Account' powers.

"The officers explained to the men why they had been stopped but at no point had any contact with the camera and at no point requested images to be deleted from the camera.

"It is clearly not the intention of the MPS to prevent visitors from taking photographs although, as the public would expect, officers will remain vigilant, particularly in crowded public places.

"No complaint about this incident was received either at the time of the incident or subsequently."