Finally had a chance to look at this.
Took it apart- not much is accessible, and amazed to see how clean it was inside, seeing as its had nine years of work. Reassembled and working, however when plugged back into the ceiling socket started playing up. Removed the remote control socket and working again. so it seems that it was not the microclene at fault but the remote socket. A lot cheaper to replace!
Thanks all for your help.
John