Ken
I currently use auto para numbers for section heads and paragraphs but am hoping that I can get them to appear more like a drop cap over a few lines rather than the current indent (just want to try something different for the paragraphs). I can see what Salah's solution is doing and will play with it a bit more but on first impressions it's not what I was hoping to be able to do. Unfortunately for me speed is of the essence and adding another process is going to cause me issues. Reports typically go in excess of 30 pages plus appendices, and as fate would have it I get about 30mins to layout prior to submission.
I will persist with Salah's solution and see if I can make it work.
Thanks for the advice