I live in the UK as well and just the other week got myself a 6 way surge protected socket board. It's one the ones with the TV aerial and telephone sockets on as well, not that I use those on it.
We almost never have any blackouts at all. Quite often we manage to trip the ELCB and it also has a nasty habit of going if a light bulb blows (grrr!). Used to trip when the freezer cut in, too, but we sorted that (it's a bit sensitive, which is actually good).
I got the board because I needed two more plugs, not for the protection :¬) But that extra layer is a bonus.. it just ough to make sure that fuses go well before my hardware, just as it did for Mike.
