Thanks all, we've actually gone for the smallest corded B&D strimmer
with 'Reflex' autofeed. I've never found corded tools much of a
problem and it was certainly cheap at £19.99 so not much loss if it's
a failure.

So far it seems excellent and much more likely to get used than our
petrol engined one. The one thing I may improve is the length of the
cable.

--
Chris Green