Dif 16b1 uk

My 4 year old Indesit DIF 16B1 UK stopped midcycle a few weeks ago due to (what I believed was) a faulty fill solenoid which I then changed (water wasn’t entering the machine). The machine was taken out and placed face down which apparently I should not have done as the control board is in the base! So it now fills with water and at various points during the fill cycle it beeps every 5 seconds and all of the lights on the program select panel are flashing. Once the fill stops it cycles for about a minute then drains and refills and repeats the fill, beeping, flashing lights, recirc and draining. When I shift it to the 45C cycle it does heat the water and does part of a cycle however the tablet doesn’t fully dissolve and cycle time is wrong. The recirc pump and drain appear to be working fine, I checked the heater resistance and it seems good around 20 ohm. I can select programs no problem so the only thing I can think of is the control panel which unlike any other I have encountered is behind what appears to be a plastic panel with 2 tabs which seems to be plastic welded along the bottom lip. Is there an easy way to remove the control panel so that I can get a look at it or do I need to remove the pump etc to get at it? Finally are there any other potential causes that could cause these symptoms. Thanks for any advice / help / hints it is much appreciated.