does anyone have experience or info on part-time study for a PhD? any resources for part-time external study in UK or other universities?

When I was doing my undergraduate degree, there was a technician that was doing a PhD part-time in the department. I doubt that this website is good for finding part-time projects. Perhaps you could email some potential universities to ask them about them. Is studying full-time not an option?

Nothing really for P/T study in terms of council funding, but some universities offer P/T scholarships.