Many thanks for the tip. Have tried this. There is no slip. Took it to Ford dealer. 'Mechanic' test dreove it, reproduced the fault and proclaimed "wear and tear on the clutch"! He was sure it was not DMF as there was no noise on engaging clutch. Booked it in for strip down and repair. If faulty component, it will be fixed under warranty, otherwise I have to cough up! Still not explained why the cruise control cuts out as this must be because there is pressure in the hydraulics that actuate a switch that puts the cruise control into standby.

[My local friendly garage, said immediatly when I explained the symptoms: DMF is faulty and pushing the clutch appart as it distorts, creating back pressure in the hydraulics]

Chris

Cluch plate turned out to be faulty. There was play of a couple of millimetres between the centre section that engages with the splines anfd the cluch plates. There was very little wear on the clutch pads, despite the mechanics proclomation! I still have not had an explation as to how this produceds the symptoms and there was no one at the main dealers who could engage in a technical discussion. It seems to me: we ahve found a faulty component end of story. No one seems to want to use there brains and think more deeply. A caravan outing will give a real test shortly.

Hope this helps someone else.