Just trying to help. Maybe I shouldn't bother!

Sounds like you are right about the car thinking the back door is still open. It could be that there is a bad earth and that is why nothing is working with the back door in general. I would look at wires and connections to the back door to see if there is any damage. If you have a multi meter...

Two days later, and all is well. Seems that it was moisture in the numberplate light recess after all. Innes

I stripped down the tailgate handle tonight, and it all seemed to be working properly. The only problem I could see, was that in the area of the number plate light recess it was very damp. This area houses the connector for the rear handle, so this could have been wet, causing it to short out...

I have a 2002 Freelander 5 Door TD4, and it has developed a dangerous problem. The rear tailgate catch is operating by it's self, and tonight it happened while I was driving, and the tailgate opened fully. I had to use the car tonight, so I had to strip down the trim and disconnect the plug on...