Attempted to register for VAT, told I need a business account

Hi, I have a tax account that is clearly labelled "Business tax account" at the top of the page, with a section for Self-assessment which I use for my sole-trader taxes and a section further which links to my personal tax account. I want to register for VAT and tried doing this (via the 'Add a tax to your account' option) but I keep getting an error that reads "You need to use a business tax account for this service", but I already have one. I thought that maybe I needed to create a new one, so I followed the link to create a new one with a different email address but haven't clicked on Declare yet (as I thought to check here first), and the page has now timed out. So now I'm both confused and concerned as I potentially have a duplicate account out there now under a different email address and I can't seem to register for VAT on the account I use for my business. Any help would be appreciated, Matthew

Hi MCC,
1.    go to HMRC online services: sign in or set up an account
2.    select the radio button 'sign in'
3.    sign in to their Business Tax Account (BTA) with their User ID and Password
4.    select 'Manage account' under the 'Business Tax Account' header
5.    select 'get online access to a tax duty or scheme'
6.    select 'what do you want to add?’
7.    follow the online instructions
Thank you.
 

Hello, I followed this advice, and hit exactly the same problem further down the chain. I get to the step, 'Do you have a VAT number?', select NO, and at this point it then redirects to the page 'You need to use a business tax account for this service'. Please could you advise? thank you

Hi,
Please contact our VAT online services team and they can resolve this for you.
Get help using VAT online services
Thank you.