Crushed by reversing cars and being thrown from bridges are two of the unlikely ends met by laptops covered by one insurance firm.

Complete Computer Cover analysed its claims data for the past five years to compile a top 10 list of bizarre ways to ruin a perfectly good piece of IT equipment.

Road vehicles featured heavily in the destruction stakes, with laptops falling off car roofs and out of the back of vans. The strange case of a woman who reversed her car over a notebook in her own driveway also figured high on the list.

But, the coveted number one spot went to a student who submitted a claim describing how he had dropped his machine 20ft off a bridge and into a river after having been pushed from behind by a friend.

According to Complete Computer Cover's data, up to 60 per cent of laptop claims are for accidental damage. Theft accounts for the rest.

That top 10 in full

1. Dropped off a bridge into a river
2. Dropped iron on screen
3. Dog chewed through cable
4. Reversed over by car
5. Spilt milkshake on keyboard
6. Left on car roof and dropped off
7. Fell down stairs
8. Water damage in hotel in Zambia
9. Book dropped on keyboard
10. Fell out of van