Lobster,

Sorry if the original post wasn't clear - I just meant detaching the
male and female fittings as you would when removing then replacing a
bayonet lightbulb (I've got the habit of talking about 'unscrewing'
bayonet lightbulbs for some reason, and it obviously carried across to
my writing about cookers ). I just want to detach the cooker from
the pipe/wall - I've no desire to move where the actual fitting is or
anything like that.

If I just just want to uncouple the male and female fittings, am I
meant to get a CORGI plumber to do this or is it legal to do so myself?

Cheers,

Jon