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thanks, but I must be doing something stupid! The first word must begin A or B and letter 3 can only be H - is that correct?

Sorry. I'm being obtuse. So , it's the same set of 3 letters? The rubric suggests otherwise.

...it states 'each' twice in the preamble tonynannini, so I think the preamble is correct.

don - the H isn't one of the 30 clues (or the NE before it).

i was being stupid! never bothered to count and just omitted the 2 long ones !!

don - As you can see from my previous answer, I'd made the same mistake of including the NE and H at one point.

Many thanks drxx. All done. I assume the 2 word phrase is a mathematical representation of the number ?

Yes, but I can think of a couple of ways to represent it in the grid - I've gone with what I think is the neater option.

I'm also struggling with the message - not helped by the fact that one of the three omitted letters starts two of the clues. I have a full grid having filled the four clashes with the same digits and am wondering if it's worth persevering with this?

bobbycollins - The endgame is quite obvious but you need the two instructions to get there.
The clues that start with the same dropped letter help to narrow it down a bit (there's only one possible letter from these) in the first instance that letter starts a 3 letter word, in the second it's the 2nd letter of a 4 letter word.
I enjoyed the puzzle.