[Exim] default local delivery transport failing

using exim 3.35-1/courier-pop 0.45.1-1 on debian gnu/linux (stable)

I've got the system configured for: amavis, spamassassin,
pop-before-smtp (exact) and virtual domains/aliases with pgsql

when exim tries to start it fails with the following error:

option "" unknown in line 219 ("driver" must be specified before any
private options)


line 219 is the driver line for the local_delivery transport, which
hasn't changed from the install version.

local_delivery:
driver = appendfile
group = mail
mode = 0660
mode_fail_narrower = false
envelope_to_add = true
return_path_add = true
file = /var/spool/mail/${local_part}

Wouldn't be half as confused, but the 'option ""' is rather...less than
helpful. Can anyone help shed some light on this?

Regards,
Bob Branch..