Went to check for leaks on the air con and can see that there isn’t a condenser fitted, just open ended pipes 🙂

1) Can I fit a new condenser without removing the radiator by slipping the air con rad up in front, is it possible?

2) Am I guessing correctly that if pipes have been open to atmosphere that the compressor will need to be changed, if so, is this a straight forward job and accessible?

The car is a 2007 1.25

Thanks for any help

If pipes have been left totally open for any length of time, all of the seals in that part of the system are likely to be wrecked now, could turn out to be a much larger job than you're anticipating.  

You'll definitely need to replace the drier unit which is located just under the headlight.  I think personally, I'd replace the drier, fit a new condenser, and then have the system vacuumed out and left for as long as possible to see if it's air tight.  If not, the next step is to pressurise it with Nitrogen and listen for air leaks to try and pinpoint which seals are leaking.

The compressor internals 'may' be ok, though it's probably worth renewing the external pipe seals as a matter of course.  You could remove the compressor and have that bench tested at an AC specialist, though I'm unsure how much they'd charge.  It would be a quick and easy test to make sure the compressor pulley feels solid, and you could even energise it for a couple of seconds to check it still works electronically by bridging out the pressure switch.  Don't do it for any longer than a couple of seconds as we have no idea how much lubricating oil might still be left in it.

Thank you Tom, good point about the drier

Much appreciated

Andrew