Incorrect unread imessage flag on iPad - ghost messages

Ok so I have been trying to solve this problem for months - tried all the suggested fixes on this forum including turn off iMessage in settings then turning it back on… selecting edit then select messages then clicking ‘read all’… removing the app… restarting, reinstalling, upgrading iOS….Nothing worked. Then my son found a fix from another site - Siri! Ask Siri to read your unread messages - it will read any ghost message/s ie the ones that you can’t see but are unread.. for me this was a text from my voicemail service saying someone called but didn’t leave a message. This message wasn’t showing as being unread on my phone or my iPad. Siri read the ghost message and now the unread message flag has disappeared!!!! Wooohoooo!!!! I was literally ready to throw my iPad in the bin that’s how frustrated I was!!! I am writing this solution here because it appears 10000s of people have this same issue but because Apple keeps closing the questions I can’t post the solution… so here it is - Siri!

ipad 6th gen iOS 16.6