Thank you very much for your reply. The problem seems to be the latter- the equipment that was at fault needed to be shipped overseas for repairs and it has taken my supervisor at least 2 months to do this (although whether the equipment is still in his office at the monent I don't know). This is not particularly difficult... All he needed to do was to fill in some forms and to package this for shipping overseas...

Thank you very much for your reply. The problem I haven't mentioned is that I have a PhD lined up starting in October, so in order to finish my masters in time I need to make sure that I have to submit my thesis by July with no other choice if I am able to complete the course. Therefore, I need to generate enough results to sufficiently write my thesis in 4 months. What should I do?

I would just like to ask, is there a way of getting around to this? I do not know him that well and I have only worked with him for a few months (therefore he might not be able to write a strong reference). Would it be possible that getting other referees from my previous university (who I have done undergraduate projects and therefore can comment on my research) as an additional referee (i.e. getting 4 referees despite the application asking for 3)?

I have asked him many times and he has replied that he would only start writing the reference to me days before the deadline. The problem is that he initially offered me a PhD position despite the fact that I wanted to pursue a masters programme. I reluctantly turned it down as I was not interested in the project and when I told him about my applications to other, top tier universities, his attitude towards me has changed and became very impatient, frustrated and uninterested. This is the reason why I am quite certain he will not be writing a positive reference for me.