surgical spirit will suit only for metallic parts...
Try to do a google search before using any product on you player ! (I did lot of mistakes too... don't worry, it's part of the fun to learn by experiement !)
OK, maybe you just added some marks. Just go buy a good lens cleaner (fuji for exemple), and use a microfiber tissue to clean it again lightly.
After that, just try, as pbiancardi said, to turn RF level screw. Before turning it, take a picture for remember exactly where it was before turning it.

Thanks for all your help - it is a bit of a rabbit hole =)

Would something like this be ok? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Camkix-Lens-Screen-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B013UBXZQ6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542637821&sr=8-3&keywords=fuji+camera+lens+cleaner or if you could provide a link to the Fuji stuff I will try and get that.

Thanks again.

I'm kind of lost here, I gave you step by step instructions on what to do and instead you chose to clean the lens with something you never should have cleaned it with?

What you did prove is that the laser is the issue and if you had done what I suggested you'd be watching the player right now lol.

Yes I made a mistake. I did Google about cleaning the lens (before I did it) and there are various posts suggesting different solutions some suggesting alcohol and others not. If I had read in more detail I would have noticed that the same people keep coming back and saying not to do that (and that only a lens cleaning solution is appropriate) but I didn't see that and that is on me.

The reason I tried cleaning the lens first is that I didn't have a screw driver small enough to go into the hole where the RF level screw is and I thought it was worth a try whilst I waited for the screw driver set to arrive. Obviously I didn't realise about the coating otherwise I would never have tried it.

I don't usually get very long to mess around with the player as I have young children and nowhere really to set the player up to fix it other than the dinning room table. I guess I was too keen to try and get it to work during the small window of time I had this weekend.

I do appreciate the assistance and I am very annoyed with myself that I didn't just wait.

Oh man, I love how the alcohol deal started with some fool then others get suckered into doing it and nobody else will say to not use it.

There are some lasers that may not be affected by this but its not worth the risk and there really should be some type of topic about the dos and don'ts.

I think it's an easy mistake to make when one is trying to research the topic and there are so many opinions about what is right or wrong. I could have easily made that mistake as well.

In any case, I don't think I have ever cleaned any of the laser pick-ups in any of my players and at most I have only used the the brush method on an 8" LD that was available @ the time (never really did anything to help or hinder playback so it's been stored away forever).

In Japan, I use :
https://www.yodobashi.com/product/00000 ... cB&xfr=pla
I don't know which is good in UK...