Good morning, just thought I would bring everybody up-to date with my X-fire stuck in park.
Thanks to all who commented and many thanks to those that have had this issue in the past and had written up various suggestions to fix the problem.

I was fortunate enough to have the problem with the car when it was parked up at home, so no panic decisions had to be made on getting it towed somewhere and paying high charges for a garage fix. After reading the previous replies and comments I decided to go for the options that I could manage and would be the easiest and cheapest to fix.

So in summary:-
1. Car was working fine, no issues or repair work carried out in the previous few months.
2. No warning lights prior to parking up the night before.
3. The car cranked and fired up as normal, again no warning lights other than the handbrake/parking brake lit up.
4. The letter "P" was clearly shown on the dash and not the dreaded "black square".
5. The U.K. X-fire (mine) does not have a cupholder, so we could discount fluid spills.

I decided to change the brake/foot/tail light switch located on the brake pedal/foot pedal, (Using the Sticky Ignition Key Fix to break down the lower dash to gain access to the brake/foot pedal assembly). I removed the existing switch and replaced with a new item.

Switch is easily removed by pressing the brake/foot pedal down by hand and then pressing the switch locking tab and turning the whole switch clockwise 90 degrees. Refit is the exact opposite.

Prior to refitting the lower dashboard I cranked the car and the problem had been resolved.

For reference the part is easily available in the UK from Europarts for approx £10 ($13) - It is an ERA part 330532 ref 464 22 0090

On examining the original switch i found no damage at all, however the switch was sticking and hence not allowing the circuit to be made to release the brake interlock when the brake/foot pedal was pressed.

May I suggest that having a replacement switch in your parts box may save a lot of stress and misery for a £10 ($13) item that wears out.

Many thanks
Mark