Does anyone in the Brighton area know anything about "Straffords" in Preston Road, regarding quality of repairs/spraying, or had any experiences with them?

Would that be these guys:- Van Hire, Car, Minibus and Vehicle Rental - Hove, Brighton, East Sussex UK

I presume they have an in house bodyshop but do not appear to be a Car Dealership/Repairer.

Yes, that's them - apparently they do a lot of servicing, and repairs/respraying as well. Seems that is the outfit I am dealing with via scrape culprit's son - at least it is a sizeable operation, and he should be able to get me one of their hire cars for wheels, while he works.