Thanks for the reply Rocky,this motor has been serviced regularly at the honda dealer where I bought it so I would assume they have used genuine honda gear,fluid level is fine and it definitely was not a mechanical fault.
It's quite hard to describe here exactly what happened but it was more like a quick break in an electrical circuit like turning a light on and off quickly,I just caught a quick flash of a warning light in my peripheral vision and at the same time the steering wheel went solid in my hands.
I don't know what the technical term is but it frightened the holy **** out of me !
I have spoken to the honda dealer today but they have never come across this before,it would however show up on a diagnostic so I shall drive very cautiously for the next couple of days and see what develops as they say.
What I can't understand though is if a power steering failure was to occur on any type of vehicle the steering wheel goes rigid ?
I have had power steering pipes bursting and pumps packing in but I've always managed to be able to steer the vehicle,obviously with very heavy steering though.
I drove hgv's for forty years but this is the first(and hopefully the last) time I've experienced this.
Looking forward to hearing what other drivers think
cheers