To me (and as a Mazda car owner), this is NOT a 'wear and tear item for a car that has only done 3k miles - I presume this is from new, not since you bought the car (if that was second hand and was or now is out of its manufacturer or dealer warranty period). If it is the former, you should demand it be repaired/replaced by the dealer, if its the latter, then unfortunately you're in the realm of a possible manufacturing fault or somehow misusing/mistreating it, and you'd have to demonstrate that you didn't do that if the car is under 6yo (the EU's technical definition of the maximum period when manufacturing defects are still liable to be fixed by the seller/manufacturer.

You may have more of a problem if you didn't buy the car from a Mazda main dealer, as many like to squirm out of warranty claims. In my experience in reading up on other people's issues with Mazdas, getting any joy out of Mazda UK can be a bit hit and miss. My advice is to be honest, do your homework (Google the issue and see if any other Mazda2 [or other Mazda cars'] owners have had this problem and what happened), and be firm but polite with the customer services people from the dealer adn Mazda UK. Don't get fobbed off by either trying to palm your problem off onto eachother.

SLO76 (as a second hand car dealer himself and a respected Backroomer) hopefully, and perhaps HJ himself, may chime in with some advice (you can always write/email HJ directly for advice) which I suspect will be of more use than mine due to their industry experience.

Best of luck.