Mystery humming keeps Hampshire villagers awake
Environment Agency experts are investigating a mysterious humming noise that is keeping people awake at night.
The puzzling noise starts at 10 pm and drones on all night, making it impossible for residents living near Southampton to nod off.
Some people have even moved away from the affected areas and are sleeping on friends' sofas to escape the nightmare.
Experts have now launched an investigation into the cause of the low-frequency drone that began several months ago.
The troubled area is centred around Hythe, near Southampton.
It is not far from the Fawley oil refinery in Hampshire which produces 270,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
The site is owned by oil company ExxonMobil and is home to a chemical plant that produces 750,000 tonnes of chemical products each year.
But the noise is also being heard further afield and local residents do not believe it is to blame.
The New Forest District Council and the Environment Agency are now working together to bring an end to the ordeal.
Val Cacchi, a teacher from Fawley, went to the doctor begging for sleeping tablets.
She said: "It's a pulsing, droning noise, rather like an aeroplane that never quite goes over.
"Over the past week it has become considerably worse and lasts all night."
Mrs Cacchi, 54, lives near the refinery and initially thought the huge petrochemical complex might be to blame.
She added: "I discovered that a number of my colleagues were suffering in the same way.
"They live all along the Waterside and I realised it was unlikely to be Esso because of the distance involved.
"I contacted the port authority to find out if they were dredging, but they said they were not.
"I've been to the doctor in desperation and got some sleeping tablets. I also spend some nights on a friend's sofa to try to get some sleep.
"I've lost days at work through feeling so awful. Other people have been to the doctor believing they've got tinnitus.
"One person is seriously considering early retirement as she feels she's no longer able to cope with day-today life.
"It's got to the stage where you almost dread going to bed at night because you don't know if you're going to get any sleep or not."
Christine English, who lives in Fawley and sells stairlifts and wheelchairs in her shop in nearby Hythe, has also been troubled by the mystery hum.
The 61 year old said: "It's a very loud humming noise that only happens at night.
"I notice it when I go to bed and all the other sounds have stopped. But no one can pinpoint where it comes from - that's the weird thing."
A refinery spokesman added: "There is a lot of industry in the Waterside area apart from us.
"We are aware of the issue and know that New Forest District Council is trying to identify the source of the noise."
A council spokesman said it had received ten complaints, mostly from people living in the Hythe and Dibden Purlieu area.
She added: "Due to the large amount of heavy industry along the Waterside area the Environment Agency and the council's environmental health teams are working together to establish the cause of the noise.
"Out-of-hours monitoring is to be carried out as part of the investigation."
I started hearing the hum here in Canada in 1996 when I bought a home near a TV,FM radio Cell phone tower. I find ,through sientific studies,that some people can hear micro wave signals.
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