My machine did this last month. It wont start to spin unless the drain pump has removed most of the water.
It turned out to be an hairclip stuck in the pump impeller.
Remove the filter from the front of the washing machine and check the impeller is not jammed.
If you turn the machine to a spin/drain cycle with the filter removed, you can check that the pump is spinning (make sure there is no water in the drum before removing filter)
paul, May 2008