INVESTIGATORS have been sent in to discover the source of a strange buzzing sound tormenting hundreds of residents in a Suffolk market town.

Will Clarke

INVESTIGATORS have been sent in to discover the source of a strange buzzing sound tormenting hundreds of residents in a Suffolk market town.

The Sudbury hum is loud enough to keep people awake in the Springlands area of the town but it is also audible as far away as the Chilton Estate.

The night-time buzzing has been likened to “feedback” from electrical equipment - an effect more commonly associated with rock concerts.

Yesterday sound nuisance officers from Babergh District Council - more used to recording noisy neighbours - were turning their ears to find the cause of the sound.

A spokesman for the district council said the officers would establish how loud the sound was and where it was coming from before taking further action.

He said: “We have had no formal complaints but we are sending a team to investigate. Initially they will ascertain the level of the sound and whether it is a statutory nuisance before taking further action.”

Sue Brotherwood, clerk for Sudbury Town Council, said she could hear it in the evenings in her garden, which is about half a mile away from Springlands.

“It is a high pitched industrial noise,” she said. “It is like feedback but it is continuous. I like to look at the stars at night and I can always hear it.

“I think it is more audible at night because there aren't any other background noises and I have just learnt to accept it.”

Many of the complaints have been directed to Bradley Smith, Sudbury's community warden, who can also hear the hum inside his home on Essex Avenue.

“The sound runs between 6pm and 5am and it does get loud enough to keep you awake,” he said.

“It is a continuous drone and you can block it out.

“I first heard it about six weeks ago and I just ignored it but now I really want to know where it is coming from.”

Mr Smith said he had his suspicions where the hum was emanating from but despite numerous witnesses he couldn't be sure what it is.

He said he hoped further complainants would come forward to shed light on the mystery if he appealed to the public for help with the problem.