A mystery noise keeps Levin man awake and may force him to move

Levin resident Gary Madsen is considering moving to get away from the mystery noise that wakes hum up every morning at 3am.

A Levin man is being driven to madness by a mystery noise that wakes him every night.

Gary Madsen said the noise, which he described as a low hum, caused the walls and windows in his home to vibrate and one morning made ripples in his coffee cup.

He's tried everything from sleeping pills to ear plugs, but the mystery noise was so irritating and having such an effect on him that he was considering moving house, or maybe moving town.

"I live close to the train tracks and sleep through that, but this noise - nah," he said.

"It's like a "mmmmm". It's really annoying. It just keeps going and going. It's getting to the stage where I can't handle it anymore."

"I've been told to get another place but that's easier said than done."

"I used to sleep like a baby."

Mr Madsen kept a diary, and flicking through that showed him the noise first woke him up in the early hours of the morning more than a year ago.

He said the noise was so low that he described it as a vibration, and he doubted it would be loud enough to record.

"I thought I was going mad before my time, you know, but its not just me. Other people are complaining about it," he said.

Anecdotally, he had heard that people living in Trafalgar Street, Bartholomew Road and Goldsmith Crescent had heard the same noise, which suggested it was widespread.

He said he was standing in line at the Post Office and overheard people in front of him discussing the noise, and other people he had spoken to were aware of it.

He said it was comforting to know he was not alone.

Mr Madsen had been in contact with HDC noise control officers "three or four times", although so far they were unable to help in locating the source of the noise.