Burning smell from Dishwasher

Our Zanussi DW915 Dishwasher started to have a burning smell around 6 weeks ago which seemed to be coming for the element as the smell was very strong when the door is opened. There also seems to be a lot of heat being generated which you can feel as soon as the door is opened.

The Dishwasher was still finishing its cycle until recently and now what happens is the main eccentric fuse switch is tripping around half way through the wash.

My first thoughts are that there may be an issue with a thermostat because of the heat that is being generated and released when the door is opened. Could this be the issue and if it is then could we also have damaged the element as it has gone a little black around the area where the element enters/exits the inside of the dishwasher.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Stephen