THE National Anthem echoed around Trafalgar Square as thousands of sports fans saluted Worcestershire golden boy Leslie Law on the day he received his Olympic medals.

The 39-year-old yesterday joined other Team GB medallists in an open-top bus tour around London, which started at the Ritz, then moved through Piccadilly Circus and Haymarket.

Television screens in Trafalgar Square showed live shots of the "Parade of the Heroes", as well as footage from the Olympics and Paralympic Games and interviews with athletes.

The jubilant crowd treated Law to a rendition of the National Anthem, which was not played for him in Athens as Germany's Bettina Hoy was first on the podium before being stripped of gold.

"It was absolutely fantastic -- the tour was amazing. I was talking to Sue Barker and was put at the front when everyone began singing the National Anthem," said Law, Great Britain's first equestrian Olympic gold medallist since 1972.

The parade then arrived at Buckingham Palace, where the athletes met senior members of the Royal family including the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne.

At a special ceremony in the Palace Ballroom, Law was awarded his individual three-day event gold and team silver medals by the Princess Royal with the Queen looking on.

"I don't think the full impact of winning Olympic gold sank in until I received the medal," said the rider from Naunton, near Upton-upon-Severn.

His victory followed successful appeals by the British Olympic Association after the German competitor Hoy apparently crossed the start line twice. Law had left Ath-ens and was competing in Solihull when the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced him as gold medallist.