I made the mistake of lubricating the barrel adjuster for the front mech and now it keeps slipping mid ride which is a real pain and I can find no way of getting it apart to clean it. Any help would be very much appreciated!

I take it you used spray lube then, as otherwise you would know how to take it apart if you had done so to lube it in the first place?

Without seeing your setup these would be the basic steps required i would imagine.....

1. Release the cable from the FR (make sure you have shifted down to the lower chain ring first to release the tension on the cable). Note the direction of travel (path) of how the cable was installed on your mech (for when you re-install it in step 4).

2. Unistall the cable to the mentioned barrel adjuster remove and clean.

3. Reinstall cable

4. Pulling on the cable firmly to take up all of the cable tension, re-install it to the FD using the same path as mentioned in step 1.

5. Trim if necessary if you have chain rub.

Hi and thanks for the reply. its step 2 that has me pulling my hair out - the adjuster unscrews then hits a stop and it wont go any further - does it unscrew to 2 parts? Big mistake lubricating the adjuster - it is now held in place with tape to stop it unscrewing and it looks terrible.

Post a pic and then it should be easier giving advice

Problem now resolved but look what I found on one of my other bikes!
Presumably I cant name and shame the manufacturer?

ok, cant upload a picture from my pc, only from a website, is this correct?

Shock horror! please note - this is NOT from my Scott bike, but one of my other road bikes - Am I allowed to name and shame the brand name?

No. You can name and shame that particular housing end cap. Let's call him Jim.
Bad Jim! Shame on you, you didn't do your job. You're fired.
It happens on occasion. If you replace it with another open plastic end cap, it is unlikely to happen again. If you use a metal (still 4mm) end cap, it is less likely to happen again, but some of those barrel adjusters prefer a plastic one at least on the top side.

thats the outer cable showing the strands which has obviously not been cut correctly! very poor quality indeed...

There are instances where a correctly cut housing will push through an end cap. sometimes sh## happens.