Finally got to the bottom of my heating/cooling issues.
It turns out that the impellor on the water pump had sheared off stopping hot water reaching the sensor and registering a temperature.
So 1 new water pump,1 cam belt kit + fitting, £321 less in my bank and my car now runs, heats and cools exactly as it should with no fault code 17704 and no engine management light on the dash board.
Just thought I would share this in case anyone has a similar issue.