thankyou for all those who racked their brains trying to help. have now managed to complete it . the answers in case anyone else needs them are- 1] DEMY,5a] COT,6a] WHY,7a] VOAR, 2d] ECHO, 3d] MOYA, 4d] YT and 6d] WV.
its strange how long it can take to do the little one, yet only take minutes to finish the mail cryptic!