Just an update on this:

After speaking with Derek this morning I have discovered that the Euro and US cars have the main fuse box in different locations; mine is in the engine compartment and the US cars have it in the end of the dash, where mine has a smaller auxiliary fuse panel. As a test on my way in to work I popped F17 and F18 (marked as ESP) and set off. I got the ESP/BAS and ABS warning lamps on but not the spoiler deployment/5,000 RPM limit. So it looks like you should be OK disabling the system this way. The roads were too busy for me to try and sideways motoring to see how 'disabled' the system actually is in this state. However, I know from my dyno tests that even with the fuses pulled the ECU still checks the speed sensors and throws a fault if you disconnect them. From my recollection of the schematics the F3 fuse that Derek pulled actually feeds F17/18 anyway so I think we are basically doing the same thing. I will check tonight on my drive home if there is a difference between F17 and F18 (as stated the legend labels them both as ESP) i.e. can you disable the TC/ESP but leave the ABS functional.