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After a coffee, some late breakfast and a bit more thinking time, I managed to get the old belt off without cutting it.  I pushed a plastic card (credit card size) between the teeth of the belt and the rear of the crankshaft pulley and this stopped the teeth from jamming on the rear of the pulley.  

The new belt then slipped in without any problems, and the engine is now up and running again.

Bottom line:  There IS an "easy way" to change the timing belt. In future I would simply cut the old belt making this a very easy job.

--
Dean Gillies
SV Stella *****,  Amel 54-154