Ok this is where I give my head a big hearty slap and say "Doy!"... turned out I hadn't pulled the focusing tube out as far as it could go.
I thought it was all set... and had extended all parts that could and should be extended... but nope... I was trying to focus on something 1km away and still getting rubbish results (thanks for the tip though... inspired me to get out and give it another try and lead to my discovery of the problem)... then I had a look at the finder scope and noticed there was a movable part (I'd previously taken apart everything I found I could in order to check for clear sight paths etc... and cleaning, which was done with a cotton bud or cotton wool... soft either way). So I unscrewed the finder scope some and noticed how much clearer it's image was... then I had another look at the telescope tube (the bit where the eyepiece itself or right angle view finder slots in) and that's when I noticed that it was separate to the part that is slid in and out by the dial... I pulled that out and what do you know... great focus!
The main problem here (I will claim at least) is that I received this telescope in it's wooden box in travel form... so I had to take it all out... screw the tripod mount together, the finder scope to the main scope etc etc... without instructions... but the sky looks like it may allow for some seeing patches tonight so I shall have it ready to go out and get some decent views... finally.
Again thanks everyone for your suggestions I am now very excited to get out there and have a good old look at the moon... to think I was lamenting the fact that it is nearly full again for the purpose of star gazing... now it couldn't be better as it provides a nice clear target
Thanks again!