Thanks for your comments and I would add that I am not in any way being sarcastic.
I have tested the actions that I have outlined in my note and they worked for me and have also worked for others. As for the latter issue this was a problem with the old site. Apart from that I really do not have any other answers at the moment other than to move the site to another Host. The team is due to meet in January when we will discuss the issues and decide what actions to take.

Michael