I am, as we say in these parts, REET CHUFFED!!!!
Thanks for your support, advice and information guys - MUCH appreciated!
Ron
Xsaras seem to break their springs quite often, fortunately failures like this tend to be at low speeds when the stresses on the suspension are at their greatest.
I had one fail at the very top, but without doing any damage. If its any consolation I was talking to the MOT tester about mine breaking and he said that in the past month or so every single Vauxhall he had tested had at least one spring broken, so Citroens don't seem so bad in comparison !