Called Hotpoint to carryout the repair. The Engineer stripped the machine down from the front and replaced the whole drum. They don't waste time stripping the drum to get to the bearings. The whole job took 30mins to complete.
As mentioned by others in the forum, if your machine is under 5 years old, then you just pay for call out & labour - ÂŁ89.98. However, they do a scheme which cover parts and costs ÂŁ149.
More info:
https://www.hotpointservice.co.uk/Service/tellind.html
Jones
June 2006