Was giving the car a thorough clean inside with a vacuum cleaner and discovered a large rubber cover under the rear seat behind the driver.

If anyone is into kayaking, it reminded me of the hatches on sea or touring kayaks!

I had a quick nose and spotted what looks like two slots for putting spare spark plugs in, but didn't want to go delving deeper incase I came across something I couldn't undo.

Anyone got any ideas what this is for and what is underneath?

I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow, but I've not yet found a way to put pictures into posts on this forum.

Is it not so you can get access to the fuel pump/ sender unit in the fuel tank without having to drop the tank?

Is it not so you can get access to the fuel pump/ sender unit in the fuel tank without having to drop the tank?

Yes, exactly that.

Thanks guys.

Nice to know what it is even if I'll (hopefully) never need to use it.

Dunno if it's wired the same way, but a handy tip I got when this happened to me in my Golf G60 was one day something went between the battery and the fuel pump (under the boot carpet with a round, 3 screw cover) which meant the car wouldn't pump petrol to the engine. To rectify this, kinda jump start it if you will, I was advised to get an ordinary bit of wire and run it directly from the positive on the battery, through the cabin and straight onto the positive terminal on the pump. This time when I turned the ignition, once again I heard the familiar whirr of it starting up and it got me to the garage (who were the ones who gave me the tip) to fix it properly instead of having to get it towed or whatever. Just a handy temporary measure.

Saved a whole lot of aggro and money and I may be wrong, but I can't see it being any different if the same fault occurs in an octy or any car to that matter.