It's been nearly two months since my original post but things are still not sorted. I'm now getting desparate and really p***ed off.

As an update, I changed the alternator for a new one and have been over the car looking for any obvious wiring problems. To be honest this was probably a waste of time 'cause I don't really know what I'm looking for. With work commitments etc that's all I've managed to achieve.

I did leave the alternator disconnected for 6 days and the car started first time after reconnecting, so I assumed the alternator regulator was at fault, hence the new one. But obviously it wasn't.

I fully charged the battery after fitting the new alternator and started using the car again, it lasted for only two days before it wouldn't start again.

In those two days I noticed that the cooling fan came on really quick, (after about two miles), and just stayed on for the next 10 miles until I switched off. I've checked the cooling system and all is o.k so maybe dodgy fan sensor or that's where my short circuit is???

I'm now assuming that I've most certainly got a short circuit somewhere but how the hell do I test for one????

Any help or advice would be really, really appreciated guys as I'm now getting a little frustrated.