Not sure why you would want to limit your internet search capabilities but that's another story. To change your default search provider simply point and click at the (default google) search box in the upper right corner of your browser, you should see a tiny arrow head beside the search providers icon on the left of the search box. Choose a different search engine from the drop down list or add your own specific search engine to that list by using the manage option. Here's a guide in case your not following what I'm saying.

http://www.firefoxfacts.com/2008/01/13/change-default-search-in-firefox/

or more detailed info here:

http://www.dharshin.com/2011/04/how-to-customize-google-country.html

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my question. I have carried out what you have sugested and hae changed the search engine to Google. I will see if this resolvs my problem over the next few days. many thanks.

Ken

You can modify the pref keyword.URL on the about:config page to use Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" or Google's "Browse By Name".

• Google "I'm Feeling Lucky": http://www.google.co.uk/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=
• Google "Browse by Name": http://www.google.co.uk/search?ie=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=

On the results page of the www.google.co.uk site there is an item in the menu at the left side to restrict the results to UK: Pages from the UK