My girlfriends laptop keyboard stopped working a few days ago and now the touch pad mouse wont work either... anyone got any ideas whether this is something which can be fixed? or is the laptop on its death bed!?

any help much appreciated!

There's often a connector between the keyboard/touchpad and the motherboard which can become loose/detached. My Compaq M700 can have this happen - the keyboard just lifts out and you can reseat the cable. Have you also checked Device Manager for any driver problems?