(I think D3000WG is the model - it's the only likely-looking ID I
could find, on the bar-code label).

A few seconds into the wash cycle (our usual cycle 3) after the
machine has let in some water and the motor has started up (I assume - sound
of water swishing about inside) the fuse in the mains plug pops quite
audibly. After replacing the fuse and trying again I measured the resistance
between live and neutral at about 15 ohms - about half the resistance of the
heater element (30 ohms) and corresponding to about 16 Amps or a bit under
4kW, which I wouldn't have thought would blow the fuse very
enthusiastically. A day or two later (when I had more time to have a better
look at it) I couldn't measure any resistance between L + N, though I'd left
the programme selector switch in the same place.

The circuit is protected by an RCD so if the heater element or anything else
had been leaking to earth that would have tripped. What else could it be -
any ideas? Someone in this parish (IIRC) suggested the motor capacitor: does
that sound possible? I had a look at it and it didn't look as if it had been
trying to dissipate kilowatts - it was nice and off-white or grey colour.
Nothing else visibly cooked underneath, or in the controls compartment in
the door, either.