Home & Away bus tour warned by Seven

A privately-run bus tour company offering visits to locations used by Home and Away has been warned against associating itself with the Seven show, and forced to change its name.

Sydney Northern Beaches Tours has changed its name from Home and Away Tours, which it registered in 2012, after Seven reminded it that it had no license with the network.

News Corp reports it was told to make changes to its Facebook, Twitter and promotional materials as well as surrendering the ­domain names homeandawaytours and summerbay­tours.

Manager Ross Mudie said the company, which has operated for 7 years, has not had any new bookings since May.

“They’re only doing it now because we made it successful after seven years of work.

“We built this damn thing. We own it and made a profit from it.

“There’s no doubt Seven owns the name as a TV show, but not as a tour company.”

Seven has since licensed location tours to another company.

A Seven spokeswoman said: “All things to do with Channel 7 and any of our programs – we take very seriously – which is why we copyright and register titles and their associated elements.

“If a member of our audience, in this case a Home and Away fan, signs up for a bus tour, that fan has to know that they are engaging with the makers of the show and that the tour is an authentic experience for that fan.”

The Official Neighbours Tour, which has been operating in Melbourne for many years, is licensed through FremantleMedia Australia.