>Do you know where the little guy is and how much he charges?
>

Vinnie and Guido can probably find you a local subcontractor...I understand that people with the proper tools are in short supply in the UK. Here in the US it's easy to find an off-duty cop or local gangbanger with their own pistol, so rates are more competitive...

>I've decided to have the textbox in character rather than date, this way it doesn't convert the date before validation.
>

About the only way I can think of to force them to enter a 4 digit year; it's a bit of a PITA since you'll have to coerce the data on the way in and out of the control.