Front lower suspension arm removal

[Sherman47]

Hi Everyone
I am new to this forum and asking for help. I have an A4 B7 3.0 Tdi Sport Quattro 2006 Cabriolet. I've owned it for a year now and have fallen in love. After its last MOT I decided to do some maintenance myself. The n/s front lower suspension arm gator was split. I looked on the net and found various videos of how to replace it. I bought the new part and a ball joint splitter and got to work.
It was all going fairly smoothly until I tried to remove the ball joint from its seating. I managed to free it quite easily but can not get it fully out. There doesnt seem to be enough clearance above it. I have tried moving the wheel one way and the other to no avail.
Has anyone had experience of doing this job? Do I need to remove the hub from the axle(hopefully not!) Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thanks Simon