Rang today and they can put it on the CPL no problem. The examiner was obviously wrong, have to say it didnt help him saying that before we went and did the test.
For what its worth I had 10 hours off the course since I had an IR. If you get the CPL first then the IR is 50 hours as supposed to 55.
Might as well add, don't budget to do a 15 hour course on the CPL if you have the IR. You are exempt from the 10 hours instrument time but I'm sure instructors like to throw in some nav/upper air work/emergencies in this time. You might need more than 15 hours to be comfortable for the test. I did.