Thanks for that Bob.
Its nice to have some encouragement.
Anyway a nice cup of tea later and iv found the other end. Take out the air box, battery and and battery tray and that is where the abs unit is. Bit fiddly but should be able to get the the pipe out and a new one made.
Had to come in for now as its raining again. Time for another tea.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Sorry for the late update but I have been waiting for a flaring tool.

Anyway, I couldn't get the the old pipe out from the abs unit as all the other pipes go over the top including the high pressure ones from the master cylinder which it says you should not undo. Right bummer.
Only other option was to go with Bobs suggestion and renew just the damaged part. Problem being as I couldn't remove the pipe, how to make a joint. In the end managed to cut the existing pipe just inside the engine bay from underneath. Used a hand held flaring tool to form the end and fit a connector. Made up a small piece of pipe to go from the connection to the inner wing bracket and connect the new flexible pipe.

Learnt my lesson and did the other three differently.
Instead of trying to undo the nut at the transition of the two pipes I first squeezed off the flexible pipe and removed the caliper from it.
Next I removed the spring clip from the inner wing bracket at the transition point. Holding the nut on the rigid pipe I then unscrewed the flexible pipe from it. The new flexible pipe was fitted in the reverse order. This way the rigid pipe was not stressed.
I think the problem was the rigid pipe is covered with a plastic coating and this stops the not moving up the pipe.

I have bled the system and purged all the old brake fluid out with a vacuum pump whilst constantly topping up with new. Thing is I think the brake peddle now travels further before the brakes bite.

Any thoughts?  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Ensure the calipers and pads are free in the slides, clean up well. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Done that Bob.
As I was waiting for the flaring tool to arrive I decided to clean up the calipers. Took all four off, thoroughly cleaned them removed all rust etc. Then gave them a couple of coats of black caliper paint, along with the mounting brackets.
Any reason why L.R. stipulate you don't apply any anti seize compound to the brake pad carriers? Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Any reason why L.R. stipulate you don't apply any anti seize compound to the brake pad carriers?

Same reason as Women of a certain mind set apply too much makeup. Less is often more my friend. Going back to my time in the trade no workshop manual was ever going to tell you to slap copper grease or white grease all over your brakes. In the then 5 year apprenticeship the man you respected showing you a trade showed precisely how much grease (not a lot) to apply to avoid ingress onto the pads and disk. Today I understand, 2 years and hey presto I am a fully qualified oil rag.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

I thought as much Bob, but didn't want to sound daft for applying the same logic and come to that copper grease.
Anyway, going to bleed the brakes again tomorrow in the order that is specified in the manual, see if that makes a difference.
Can't do it today as I'm doing my part time volunteer job.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

If you clamp off each flexy hose in turn and try the pedal each time you should be able to pinpoint the brake that still has air in it. You will get a great pedal when you clamp off the affected brake and that will let you know which one to concentrate on. Use a pair of mole grips to clamp off if you don`t have a hose clamp but use a piece of cardboard or similar round the hose to avoid damaging it with the mole grips.

Thanks for the reply Dondidy but I've just fitted braided hoses, don't think you can clamp them off. Could be wrong though...... wouldn't be the first time .
When I changed the hoses I started at the front and bled each hose as I completed each one. My problems started when I snapped the font nearside and had to wait for materials to repair it.
Think if I do the whole bleed process again starting at the rear offside as per the manual that may fix the issue.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Think I may have found the problem to the soft brakes. Found a slight leak from one of the connections between the flexible pipe and the rigid pipe. Fluid out equals air in. As these are such small pipes I didn't want to over tighten the connection. Gave it another nip , brakes are now much better. I'll keep checking over the next few days though.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

I bought a set of Goodridge braded lines that I'm about to fit. Any tips on not stuffing up the ABS with draining the hydraulic system? Should I ensure the brake fluid reservoir does not empty or is there something else that I should consider?

Is it right that the clutch uses the same system?

On another note, I am finding it tough to get some full synthetic 75W80 for the manual transmission service. May have to go for semi-synthetic.

g

I didn't drain the abs, just kept everything topped up as I went along. The hardest part of the job is disconnecting the flexible hose from the rigid pipe. After I damaged the first one, I found the best way was to loosen the caliper, clamp the original hose and unscew the caliper from the hose. Next remove the clip that holds the pipe in place on the wheel arch bracket. Have your new hose ready, unscrew the flexible hose from the rigid pipe keeping the nut on the rigid pipe still and only turning the flexible pipe. Quick slight of hand with the new hose and reassemble. Should only loose minimal fluid.
Don't know about the clutch sharing the same master cylinder, I thought it was cable operated. In any event mine wasn't effected.
Hope that helps.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.