since noone could be bothered to help I took the door apart and found and rectified the problem myself.It turned out that one of the wires contained in the sheath between the van body and the door had broken.The wires fitted into a plug which plugged into a socket on the van body.I crimped the wire ,plugged it back in and snapped back on the plastic cover.a bit fiddly getting the bits together but entirely do-able.hope this helps someone with a similar problem
eugene mccloskey, October 2010