Ended up taking the carrier off in the end as the wiper and spindle were locked solid. In addition with my fat hands I couldn't connect up the washer pipe with the carrier in place. It was dead easy to get the carrier off, the only pain was that as the high level brake light is still connected I...

Thanks for the tip. Our newly purchased Freelander 2002 has the snapped rear wiper and having taken the wheel off, I was sure until I read this post that I would have to take the carrier off.

Just bought a low mileage 11 year old 2.5V6 Freelander 1. Has full service history but has usual sunroof runner problem and NSF window doesn't work. Oh well, some easy fixes for me to spend my winter weekends on! Looking forward to getting it mint!