In article ,
says...
david lang wrote:
Thanks for the input chaps. No magic bullet then.......

Plan 'B'.

I'll try cutting a 6mm deep dado in the sides & screwing through from
the outside - hopefully the tight fit of the shelf in the dado will
stop the splitting.

Plan 'B' worked a treat! Applied glue to the dados (Titebond 11) and used
3.5 x 40 SPAX 'M' MDF screws from B&Q. No splitting on the trial run and
virtually no expansion on final assembly. Straight in no pilot holes at
all.

I've found that can cause a small bulge where the screw goes through the
dado which pushes the joint apart slightly.