Les Desser wrote:
Can I stop to pick up a friend I spot along a double red line Red
Route?

No. See http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/signs09.htm#along

Note that (re Neil's post) a Red Route is *not* the same as an Urban
Clearway, and has different signs.

Ditto for a bus stop?

I can't see anything in the Highway Code that says that's illegal
(assuming it's not on a Red Route). The advice in Rule 217 ("do not
stop ... at or near a bus stop") is not in itself mandatory, but if you
stopped at a bus stop and actually obstructed a bus, the fact that your
action violated rule 217 would count against you in any prosecution.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)