Hi and THANK YOU
You guys where spot on with your diagnosis, seems it was the cold running jet (choke) mechanisim sticking.
I changed the oil as there seemed to be fuel mixed in . Cleaned the choke going into the carb as suggested.And so far so good .
You guys saved me some money .Thanks for being so generous with your experience and knowledge.
I do have one more hopefully not too stupid a question. At the top of the rubber overflow pipe at the bottom of the carb is a screw (wich i somehow have successfully managed to strip ) in the closed position ,will the overflow still work? Is the screw usually left completly closed unless draining the carb ,i would venture to say yes.
Thanks again
steve