Thank you to all who gave me guidance on this
I figured out what the problem was. A few weeks ago I downloaded a BlackBerry protect app via BB app world, about the time my phone started playing up. This app took up a lot system memory and resources, so much so when I unistalled it my phone has speeded back up and system memory has restored.
I have however done a software update via BB desktop manager, this gave me the OS 6 software which won't install over the OS 5 software currently installed on my BB Bold 9700.
That all said my BB is now back to its best and fully backed up on my PC. Orange shop did inform me that all BlackBerry handsets are guaranteed for twelve months of purchase with a like for like replacement if your handset fails.
Thank you and I hope my results are helpfull to other BB users