Thanks so much for the help guys

I had never thought of the 1st shot being stale because of sitting in the grinder I will try that this am!
I have been surfing the temp and pulling when the green light goes of ie the hottest maybe I will try when it kicks on instead giving me a cooler brew temp.

I have experimented with the pressure stat a little but to be honest just ended up putting it back to the factory position.

If it is the case that stale coffee is causing the the first shot to run fast I will indeed have to grind coarser!

Is there any merit to the heat of the machine just expanding the basket and closing down the holes?

I will try and report back

OK with my exact same procedure BUT first trashing a pf worth of grind the FIRST shot now locks up like the second one used too. Tasted much better also. Ergo, stale grounds in grinder!

I will now coarsen the grind until I get a better extraction and report back!

Very good, now all there is to it, is to get your shots dialed in how you like.