So my wife was complaining about a banging noise with the car when going over bumps.

Problem was she was complaining about the noise coming from the back of the car on the passenger side. Drove it myself and have to say she was right definite broken spring sound coming from the rear passenger side.

When I had a proper look (already had taken a look at the rear) this is what I found at the front....

So the moral of the story is don't believe your partner yourself or anyone else when it comes to working out where noises come from on the car. Just get under it and check everything.

Easy enough job. Tricky deep recess to get the nut off the top of the shock, had to use a pair of mole grips on a socket to get the allen key to hold to stop the shock rotating. First time I've ever found it easier to cut the the spring off with an angle grinder - it was jammed in place all over but no actual pressure on the spring as such. Motor factors should have the spring in the morning. Would do both but other one was only done last year singley so with that in mind for a car that only does 6 miles to the shops and back each week I don't see the point of doing the pair.