Hi davedart.
Did you ever get to the bottom of your lost 1st and 2nd gears as I have just got the same problem now. I drove back from Bristol to Cambridge ,ffth and with have always been difffidif to get into gear bit ive sort of got used to it.
On headigh out the following morning it was sluggish and I realized that where 1st and 2nd were. Is now 3rd and 4th. I've had the console out checked the cables and looked at the linkage and all seems fine just 1st and 2nd have been replaced by 3td and 4th.
I have only had the car for 5 months bought from a dealer.
Phil