The leak issue may be resolved. I'll let you know.
As for the starting, this is a real problem as it renders the car unuseable for my wife as day to day transport. The most likely culprit from the advice given is the fuel filter housing. In view of the cost of changing it to see I was thinking of bypassing it & using an inline type for a while to see if this cures it. I know I will lose the benefit of the fuel heating but I can't see that this will this matter for a short time?
Any thoughts?