Tailgate door will not open

We have a 2001 Petrol 1.8 freelander 5dr. The Tailgate has shut, and will not open, when the door handle is pressed the tailgate window comes down but the lock doesn't relesae the door, If i keep the open button of the keyfob pressed the window goes down fine (as it should) but still the door lock will not release. When the door handle button is pressed i can hear a clicking noise in the front of the car (near glove compartment), which i assume would be some kind of switch.
My question for everyone, is there a way to open the tailgate manually?
because without the tailgate open its diffucult to examine the locks assembly (even though we have managed to remove the tailgate inside trim, and can see the electrics, we just can't get to the lock).
Any assistance would be very helpful at this point.

You'll have to climb in the back over the rear seats and get the tailgate interior trim off then do a search on here re: manual release of tailgate, it's been covered many times. Once the tailgate is open you can check for faulty wiring at the door jamb or faulty tailgate lock actuator.

You could try the self test mode to see if the tailgate will open.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/self-test-mode-freelander-1-diagnostics-124575.html