Thanks - I did manage to get the nearside one off eventually and it is longer than the spare one I had so a new one is on order.
I have had J&S ones in the past and they have been fine - very cheap at £39 each delivered! I only had to change this one because I picked up some metal in the thread when undoing the large bolt and it had damaged the thread. I was only doing the front wheel bearing but now its a driveshaft, bearing and I noticed a split in the ball joint so one of those as well! Oh yes and the disk shield needs a fair bit of work on it or even a new one (they cost stupid money!)
Once again thanks for the replies, I haven't been on for a while as my Freebie has been running superbly this last two years.