Ok here's my spec

Needs to take good clean shots, both action and still
Needs a good zoom
Easy to use ( :hihi: )

No more than 300 notes not fussed on new or 2nd hand

If you want a "I can do nearly everything" camera that looks a bit like an SLR but isn't, you could do a lot worse than buy a Fuji S9600 - a very capable camera that will be far better than a compact and much less expenxive than a professional D-SLR - the pictures will be very close in quality to the professional cameras. Available at Jessops for about £280 but if you shop around you will get it for about £240 to £250

For just over £200 you can get this camera which is 8mp with a 18x optical zoom

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/high-zoom/dmc-fz18eb-k/index.htm

Another very capable camera! but don't be fooled by the Leica lens bit - the lens is designed by Leica but not built by them - genuine Leica lenses are very very expensive - and very very good. If the Panasonic Lumix had a genuine Leica made lens, you could multiply the price by 10

S9600 is the camera i want, had a play with one other day and most impressed, i currently have a S5800 and its fantastic, maybe one to consider for yourself?