Thanks for the input... Here is my current solution, which works quite well, just wanted to finish up the post for future people trawling for the same answer...

KNOPPIX debian repository

Setup your own local deb repository
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You will need to install dpkg-multicd to get the "dpkg-scanpackages" command.

Lets say you have a bunch of debs downloaded and want to use them instead of
fetching again from the net.You could just put them in
/var/cache/apt/archives/ and apt-get update but what if you want to
have a pool of debs on your live cd to install on demand or your worried about
doing an apt-get clean and loosing them.

Put all your debs in a directory called "debs"
# cd /debs/
# find . -name "*.deb" > overridefile
# dpkg-scanpackages . overridefile > Packages

Now your "debs" directory is ready for use.Just put it in the root of your
chroot jail for example and add the following line to your
/etc/apt/sources.list :
deb file:/debs/ ./

Then apt-get update and there all ready to search,show and install.
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