How does the spring mechanism fit on a zanussi door catch?

I suspect that someone attempted to open the washing machine whilst the door lock safety mechanism was still engaged and has sprained it. The lock can be disengaged using a knife to push back the lock catch however we have now bought a replacement door handle/closer. Unfortunately we can not remember how the spring mechanism fitted in order to to hold the door release catch under tension. We have tried numerous ways of orientating the spring but it either flops about or has insufficient tension to hold the door release catch in place to lock the door properly. The machine is a slim depth Zanussi JP 600 series and is about 10 years old. Can anyone help?