My prayers have been answered and the firmware update for the UK version (0585162) model handset has been released and is now available via Nokia Software Updater application. Having tried using Firmware Over The Air, the update was not available but NSU and the screenshot above confirms its availability (at least for handset model 0585162 which is the generic UK black Nokia N97)
My update went smoothly enough as per the screenshot below and there was no need to restore any settings after the update completed.
I’ll let you all know how things go with the new firmware as soon as I’ve had a good tinker.
-Lewis