2nd Gen Apple pencil stops working after docking

Hi

I was wondering if anybody has come across this problem - I can't find a solution anywhere else online.

I have an iPad Pro 3rd gen and a 2nd gen Apple pencil - both of which are great and I use them a lot.

However, just recently (after a period of low use) my pencil will stop working after it is docked (sometimes without being docked, but absolutely every time it is docked).

The iPad works fine throughout.

I can pick up the iPad, open Procreate, doodle away for sometime and have no problems. But if I clip the pencil to the side of the iPad to check the battery, say, then it will stop working. If I disconnect the pencil and leave it away from the iPad for about 5 minutes it will work again.

I have unpaired and repaired the pencil, shut down the iPad and restarted, checked the charge level of the pencil, tutted, frowned, changed the tip (twice, just in case), shaken the pencil, taken the pencil out of bluetooth range and brought it back.. in short just about everything I can think of.

It's frustrating because I know it can work, but I'm reluctant to sit down and start a piece of work because I know I'll have an interruption either when the pencil is docked or else at a random point later on.

Has anybody encountered this problem? Any solutions that anybody is aware of?

Thanks v much