Christian McArdle wrote:
Anyone any ideas on whether it's possible to fix this, as I am sure the
motor is *not* meant to run 24/7.


It's probably a failed, or in your case possibly mispositioned, thermostat.
The dangly thing you found is probably telling the motor that the freezer is
still warm, so it never turns off.


Is it easy to get freezers repaired, or are we looking at a new one ?


It's probably the easiest fix that could be made to a freezer beyond
replacing a door handle.


Are built-under appliances built to a standard size so I could replace
this once easily ?


Yes.


Is it frozen up? If so a defrost may fix it.

Failing that, if it's getting below -18 C then it looks like a
thermostat fault or thermostat location problem.

If it's not getting down to -18 then maybe you are low on refrigerant
gas. Repairers will have recharging kits.

Phil