Many thanks for your reply,the problem was a fuse but not the one for that circuit but a main aux fuse!!It had not blown but had cracked due to age,took the electrician 2 hrs to trace fault and he recommends changing all the fuses as a matter of course as cracking is common and can be a nightmare to sort out as they often cause an intermittent fault.
$100 to change a 2c item thats life,I could have dismantled the whole car and still not found it!!!
hamish