Thanks for the pics, johnando. Very enlightening, as expected!

This looks like it could be a fairly simple fix - the idle speed adjustment screw is cranked way up.
This diagram should help.
The mixture screw ['needle valve'] may well need adjusting too - start with the mixture screw one and a half [anticlockwise] turns out from fully closed, then:
As the instructions say, minimum idle speed is 1750rpm, if you have any way of checking this.
The governor spring is the light one in the lower position, and doesn't seem to be damaged or misconnected, the most common problems.
The upper [throttle return] spring is an add-on, necessitated by the throttle cable used on your machine - Briggs engines are designed to use a throttle cable with a single strand inner, which can operate in both push and pull modes.