Thanks Tobias,

I have went ahead and booked eurowings flights from Dusseldorf to Manchester instead and will be expecting my Ryanair flights to be refunded once they contact me about the "schedule change" as they are calling it.
I don't envisage any issues after what has been advised on here and to be honest we need the money refunded to help fund the trip.
Any issues and I know where to come for decent advice.
Thanks for your help guys