Washing machine not starting

[AberdeenAngusina]

Any suggestions? I press the on button, and the on light comes on, select the programme, press start, the light for the programme comes on but nothing else happens.

Kick it?

Turn it off and on at the wall?

Is the door properly closed and the latch making proper contact?

Do you need to clean the filter at the bottom front under the removal panel?

Has the water gone off?

Process of elimination until it kicks in and works.

door catch (clean seal in case it isn't making full contact), check filter

The door is closing properly, and when I press start, the lock is locking. I have to wait three minutes after pressing off to open the door again. But that seems to be the only thing working.

Our water hasn't gone off.

Will investigate filter.

The last person to use it was DS, home from Uni. He's used it dozens of times in the past, but he did remark that he had got used to the one in his Uni flat, and had "almost forgotten" how to use ours; he tried to open it as soon as it stopped, having forgotten the 3 minute thing. I wonder if he's done something, but can't imagine what he could possibly have done, simply by trying to open the door too soon.

It looks like I can't access the filter (it's a hotpoint aquarius wf 240)

Sounds to me like he has damaged the latch mechanism. If the machine does not recognise that the door is locked, it will not start. It is probably not an easy DIY fix.