Thank you all for your replies to my questions.  On further investigation, it appears as though the authority responsible for financial activity in my country has indeed banned the buying and selling of cryptocurrency for retail consumers.  The likes of eToro is registered in my country with the authority and their terms indicate cryptocurrency transactions with customers from my country will not be fulfilled, so I can't for example use eToro.  It's slightly confusing (hence why LOTS of research is required beforehand) in that many companies still seem to advertise the buying and selling of cryptocurrency for consumers in my country, stating the transaction can be completed via credit or debit card.  For many (most) consumers, this is simply no longer possible.  In short, the buying advice on many websites seems to be outdated for my country.  No doubt I could try it and see if I'm successful (lucky), however I don't want to risk my bank account in this way.

So it looks as though my options will be limited to first transferring my funds to a third party as suggested in your replies e.g. Bank > Revolut > Exchange or to consider P2P.  I know I'm stating the obvious here, however i want to identify the most secure and straightforward way to buy cryptocurrency without unnecessarily alerting my bank.

It's interesting because some experts in the financial sector have suggested my countries outright ban on crypto is unwise, because it moves investors away from legitimate platforms such as eToro onto platforms that may offer less security, because investors still want to invest in crypto and will look for ways to circumvent the national ban.