Your suspicion is correct. As with all modern cars you cannot adjust out the play: if the bearings are worn they must be replaced. From memory, the bearing is about £30 and an honest mechanic can fit it in comfortably less than an hour, so around £40-£50 labour at an independent garage. If you have an industrial bearing supply shop anywhere near you (such as Orbic Bearings) and take the worn Ford item along to them, they can usually supply the same or a superior spec model for less than Ford will charge. Note that the link is just for information only, you'll need to see if there's a similar supplier in your local area.
The Haynes Manual for your model gives clear instructions as to how to replace your front bearing, as with all Haynes manuals it pays for itself with the very first job you do, but if you need to buy specialist tools as well it may be cheaper to get the job done professionally. If you do so, check with your local Ford dealer as they sometimes offer competitive fixed price repairs for simple jobs like yours.
Good luck, and please take a moment to rate my reply.
dr guru your advice is very helpful and conficts with other blokes but i/m go/ingdown your route god bless
Thanks for the comment. The bearing is not meant to be adjustable, and tightening a worn bearing as suggested can just hasten its eventual failure. Also, if it's only an MOT advisory and you are not seeing any effect on tyre wear or hearing any unusual noises from it then replacement is totally unnecessary. I'd suggest just checking it again a month or so before the next MOT is due to give you time to effect repairs and spread the cost if the free play has worsened by then. Don't worry, a tiny bit of play isn't going to cause your wheel to fall off as long as you monitor the situation.
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Its tapered,and do it up hand tight so that the wheel spins freely(it used to be tight to 150 lbs/ft then back 1/8th turn)
Testimonial: "i was not sure at first as when i tried to tighten it i could not find an exact socket size that big i will try again at a later date god bless eom"
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