Thanks for all the input. This place is really helpful.

I don't believe the weather was contributory - it was a fine day. The plane departed MAN late simply due to a late arrival. Then upon landing at LHR the bridge became stuck resulting in us being held onboard for 20 mins longer.

I appreciate that additional compensation (e.g. loss of earnings) is outside BA's remit and am not particularly pursuing that. I'm more concerned about the length of time being taken to confirm I am eligible for the EUR600 payment that law dictates. What factors surrounding that could take over 6 weeks to establish?

Also, the lounge access gripe is minor, however looking at the whole picture I find it petty that they would not allow access knowing I had a 9 hour wait at LHR. Their comment about the lounge (in the above mail) seems contradictory to my being told by LHR staff that they were not able to provide access due to rules from above in the organisation.

I'll keep you posted...