Thanks Weezy Rider, that is exactly what has happened, there are screws on the needle plate that have been removed and according to the manual the needle plate comes off without removing them and I can't seem to work out how to get them back on so I think you are correct and I will put it into the repair shop.
Prism99 thanks for the reminder but I have checked that I had it the correct way because that was my first thought initially.