Mystery noise keeps street awake
By Kevin Barnes
A group of Epsom residents, sleepless in suburbia, fear they face little prospect of catching some shut-eye after experts told them they were powerless to pin down the mystery noises keeping them awake.
Light sleepers in Manor Green Road have failed to clock-up a decent night's slumber in six months because of the sounds which regularly wake them up.
The residents said they have been hearing five repeated thuds in the middle of the night and cannot trace the source.
Double-glazed windows and ear plugs have been no match for the tumult.
So intolerable is the situation that one homeowner has considered seeking a deep-sleeping buyer with a dreamy nature to restore her silent nights.
When Claire Stott, 50, enlisted the help of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council's environmental health department she was told to collate more information.
Officers insist they are unable to identify the sound because it occurs at irregular intervals.
A spokesman told the Guardian: "We need a starting point. When we last received a call about the problem in February we were not in a position to help.
"We really have to have a better suggestion of where it is coming from."
Residents, however, said it was their failure to trace the source that prompted them to turn to the department.
In a desperate bid to get a good night's sleep, the tired residents are calling on Guardian readers to solve the riddle of the racket.
Mrs Stott said: "Everyone is baffled. The noise is driving me mad. It's like someone beating loudly on a drum.
"People say you can just get back to sleep, but it's not that easy. You are thinking all the time of when it will come back again. I just hope someone will recognise this problem and come forward."
Builders working in neighbouring Long Grove Road have put forward a water pump as the possible culprit.
But residents say it is too far removed to generate the noise, which is penetrating the double-glazed windows.
Send all complaints to: specialshawn@bellsouth.net
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