I wonder if someone could help me please.   I have a Skoda Fabia 1.4 16v 2001 estate.    Whilst I am driving the PAS light comes on the dashboard and the assistance stops in that the steering becomes very difficult.    This has now happened on two occasions.  However once I have turned the car off and restarted it everything is ok.   Any idea please what could be causing this?

@GreenDave They're only golden, not crystal! You clearly have a charge system or PAS sensor fault, but without more information we can't say which.

 

Does the battery light illuminate when you switch on? (this may be related)

It could be either the pump or the sensor, it's notoriously tricky to know which. However it could also be your battery voltage dropping too low so check your charging system and the battery condition before throwing any money at the PAS system.