1. I have re-build all the indexes but that has not made a difference unfortunately

2. is there a way to post the graphic of the execution plan graphically - I have tried a screen dump but it is impossible to fit it into the screen and looks too small to read if zoomed out too much

3. the query is parametarized via a stored procedure normally but I am running the specific parts in query analyzer

4. the stats for this query are

SQL Server parse and compile time:

CPU time = 0 ms, elapsed time = 0 ms.

(0 row(s) affected)

SQL Server Execution Times:

CPU time = 15219 ms, elapsed time = 15214 ms.

Going to bed now - almost 2am here (UK) - thanks again for all your suggestions will get back to you once I have woken up in the morning 🙂