Well, it would appear from all the wireless traffic I've had going on around me today that the problem was indeed the WLAN drivers as supplied by Micro$oft!
I'll be sure to hide that update and go on to add further updates one by one until the system's back to where it was 2 days ago.
Thanks again for all your help folks and if anything else develops I'll be sure to report it back her.
Cheers!
Rez