My thanks for the advice guys....
......however, have tried both suggestions and I still get the same result.
I reset the accounts / advanced time to 5mins...but am still getting a "timeout after 300secs" message which it is doing.
For what it's worth, I can send mails ( did a test run to my hotmail account ) and tried the BT Helpdesk (online version ) which said I had no connectivity to the internet.....so this is clearly a new form of communication I have found by posting this message!.....and the reason I do not want to involve BT if at all possible.
Any further ideas appreciated please.