vw polo wipers will not turn off 1997

have just been given a r plate vw polo 1.4cl for my lad ,mot until march 2011/taxed till sept 2010,wipers will not turn off at all ,unless i remove the fuse or relay,,,any ideas,also it will not start today,turns over,goes to start and then dies,tryed to give it a bit off gas on the pedal,but not haveing it..drove ok from ilford last night .................. any idea thankyou

I think I've had this before on a customers polo, and I believe it was the stalks that turned out to be the problem. Pull the plugs out of the stalks and see if that stops them.