In message .com,
" writes
Thanks for this - sounds a bit scary, may take the repairman option on
this if I can't see anything obvious once top and back removed.

F the drum was leaking it would drip out water during washing as well.
It's worth looking inside and making sure you observe all safety
precautions put the machine through a cycle and only feel around for
drips when the power is OFF to the machine. It could even be water
condensing on the outside of the condenser plate.

Some of the condenser type machines have a sump in the base that is
pumped to the drain or collection tray. Sometimes they gunk up with wet
fluff. This is particularly aggravated by the use of "fabric softeners"
which make the gunk greasy.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com