Thanks for the advice all, appreciated. It seems to be a case of speaking to HSBC it would seem as they are apparently one of the few banks willing to let people persue their dreams!
I've considered going to the US to train too, there seem to be plenty of schools (recommended on Pprune) willing to train for around the 35k mark. At the risk of irritating those who've bigger commitments than myself (no wife, kids, house etc) could I ask why more people don't do this? Am I missing something? How easy would it be to get a bank loan either in the US (as a non-national) or one that could be used in the US (i.e. from a UK bank)? How compatible are the US ATPL equivalents and the European versions? This may be answered in another thread so apologies in advance, without the search facility it's a little hard to find.
Thanks again, pretty sure flying is in the blood and much to my mother's distaste I think it's inheritable.