thanks but that clearing the cookies did not work. Also tried on another PC and get the same error. Email alerts had been working - then I was messing around tryign to setup filters, got the error and its never worked since. Clicking on Live Services shows that I have no email alert service setup. My thoughts are that in trying to setup my email alert filters somehow the data stored on the server (somewhere!) has become corrupted ... emailed the support team but no news ....