I totally agree ive just done some pipes on a mondeo and even with a proper spanner i struggled had to resort into cracking them of with straight ended mole/vise grips then retighten with proper brake spanner
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-Open-En...5883fb2fa7
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-Open-En...5883fb2fa7