Came back to the car this morning after leaving it for 10 minutes while shopping to find that the key wouldn't go into the ignition. After several attempts I phoned Skoda Assist and a very pleasant RAC man arrived after about 50 minutes. He was familiar with the problem and used a small screwdriver to dislodge a piece of plastic that had broken off inside the lock and blocked the aperture. The key then went in OK but seemed quite loose. I then went to the local dealer who is ordering a new lock barrel. Apparently new keys will not be required as, quote ".... the barrel will be cut to fit the existing keys."

Has anyone had a similar experience and does the comment about not having to replace the existing keys make sense? Thanks for any advice.

The factory has a record of the groove pattern your keys came with, they can use that to machine a new barrel and send it to you. I had a tank cap replaced like that on another car the other month.

The factory has a record of the groove pattern your keys came with, they can use that to machine a new barrel and send it to you. I had a tank cap replaced like that on another car the other month.

Thanks for that. The dealer phoned me yesterday and said that the new lock will take about two weeks as it has to be 'cut' in Germany. Still can't find out what the broken plastic bit was for and whether the lock is likely to jam again.