Mystery solved after I went to look at the detailed stuff in System Information :
en1:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0xD6)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.106.98.81.20)
MAC Address: <redacted>
Locale: ETSI
Country Code: TW
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165
Wake On Wireless: Supported
AirDrop: Supported
Status: Connected
Note the supported wireless channels - the 5GHz channels in the UK are 36-48 which are not on the list. A firmware upgrade on my router appears to have changed the country code. OS X detects this using 802.11d and enables what it believes are the correct channels.
Having disabled the WiFi on the router, OS X now sees the 5GHz network first and allocated the correct channels :
en1:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0xD6)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.106.98.81.20)
MAC Address: <redacted>
Locale: ETSI
Country Code: GB
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140
Wake On Wireless: Supported
AirDrop: Supported
Status: Connected
Right, I'm off to shout at the router manufacturer...