I'd like to thank you all for your help. Without it I just wouldn't have been confident enough to go any further and I hate the feeling of being 'beaten'.
I got my multimeter out on Thursday night and plugged the red lead into the circuit socket (I think it's a very simple one) and found that I could get nothing by touching the two connectors on the element I removed, though when I touched the outside it showed a current passing through. So I decided it was worth looking up a new element which was later ordered from 'The Element Man' in Birmingham. It arrived on Saturday morning for just £28.50 inclusive and I fitted it later that day. I nervously switched the cooker power back on and after 7 mins the power was still going and we had heat again.
Thanks again,
Cheers,
\/era