Ok final question for the day

Can the Handbrake lever be adjusted somehow to lift it of the deck and allow you to actually get hold of it without scratting around or do I need to wedge a wod of beer mats under it

only shoes and cable are adjustable ,are they adjusted properly

sounds like your lever has been damaged, possibly the pawl that locks in the ratchet has been reversed - very common fault caused by lifting the lever up too far when taking the console out. The last cog on the ratchet should set your base height for the lever, which you should easily get your fingers under, unless you have very large fingers!

As James says, there is no adjustment of this - so maybe getting a new lever from a breaker would fix it. Remove console, disconnect cable and then assembly is held to tunnel by two bolts (I'm assuming yours are tight?).

Cheers!

Cheers for that
Will ad that to the to do list