Before you go at taken your car apart try this as I have been told that because these cars where primarily designed as left hand drives most right hand drivers tend to pull up And towards them when applying the hand brake and its been known to come off the ratchet . Try lifting the hand brake up and with the button depressed push the leaver away from you towards the passenger seat this may take a little force so go steady and not over do it this may bend it back and back on the ratchet , it's worth a try anyway .
I checked europarts, and it doesn't say much, but unfastening the little leather sleeve, it looks like the ratchet part is definitely in the centre console. Thanks Newton.
I'll give the left-hooker thing a try, but will look at getting it more permanently done so I don't need to worry about my inevitable forgetfulness...thanks, Maverick
Looks like Italians dress to the left. I'll just have to remember to push away a little when applying the handbrake until I can get it fixed eventually.