Thank you everyone. I will make a few more phone calls today. Yes, they want the money up front before they release the code.

Its a long story. But basically I need to remove the phone number I have on my Orange contract and put it on another phone on a different contract. BUT, I have another 12 months left on my contract, and they wont give me my PAC code unless I pay a £535 contract cancellation fee. I am happy to continue paying the orange contract with a new phone number. But they say this is impossible. What I don't understand is that they are more than happy to give me a new number, but cant give me the PAC code for the current number before they do. Where do I stand? What are my options? Thank you in advance