Damn! My heart goes out to you, Miskin Man. Those of us who have done no more than plan and play fix-a-van etc will all be disappointed, but for you it must be devastating.

In the fullness of time I would like to know why you could not be covered by a TEN - I thought the "once a year" thing was exactly what TENs were for. Many here would, I imagine, like to wrote to your local authority to query their view of the law - but in your own time.