this situation gets more interesting day by day. quick update:
the direct debit of £430 was taken from my account, however hsbc did a chargeback of this so that it's ok and hasnt actually been taken. paypal then credited my bank account with £430 from my paypal account, which is now -£430. This is because a payment from paypal to my paypal account is being held, which will be confirmed and allowed to go ahead if i re-verify my account in the next 7 days, they are sending out some code on a piece of paper to do this.
anyway, helpful as hsbc were, i am washing my hands of them. i have to wait until next wednesday for my debit card to arrive, this is completely unacceptable to me. so, i am applying for a new account at lloyds tsb and am going to close my hsbc one. 2 weeks without a current account makes life very difficult...