Keyboard issues on MacBook 13"

Hi folks

I'm experiencing some strange keyboard issues on my black 13" MacBook (Leopard).

After using the MacBook for about 30 minutes, the QWERTY line of keys (tab through to ] ) just stop working completely. Switching off and leaving it lying for a while seems to resolve it, although the time is takes to sort itself seems to be getting longer.

I'm all up to date on software updates - this has been happening now for about a couple of months but is progressively getting worse.

Not sure if related, but the battery life is now very short (a full battery seems to last less than hour and as soon as it hits 30% it switches itself off!)

Any help here is very much appreciated - I've done loads of searches on the net but not found anything to help.

Cheers guys