hi.

thank you for your reply at this late hour.

the car has had a weak battery for a while and required several jump starts.

well yesterday car cut our after battery light came on but put new battery on and all lights went out apart from battery light.
someone tested yesterday putting leads on battery said the charging system was putting nothing out and the alternator read 12 V.
my question is could that be the cause of a bad serpentine belt not charging the alternator properly ? (don't think belt was snapped at this point as I was able to drive car 10 miles back with new battery )

took it to a friend today, he tapped something on or around the alternator then said oh the belt is broke, you need a new belt to solve the problem.
as soon as he did that all lights came back on, power steering abs e.t.c. and car cut out and had to get it towed home.

when I took wheel off I then noticed no belt present

I took wheel off earlier and found no belt !