Having painstakingly stripped back most of the paint on the workmate using a wire brush in a drill,  I noticed that the legs can be detached by drifting out the hinge pin, allowing easier access for the paint stripping and subsequent painting so I grabbed a drift and a hammer and drifted the pins out and removed the legs. You may need a pair of mole grips to help get the hinge pin out the full way as the hinge pins are quite a bit longer than the drift you can see in the pictures.

Just a little more paint removal and then I will have reached the stage where I can degrease the whole thing and apply some paint.