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.

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.”