A MYSTERY humming noise is making a man’s life a misery.

David Baker, of Prettygate, Colchester, first noticed the low hum two weeks ago.

He assumed it was being caused by an appliance or speaker which had been brought in by his new neighbours.

After Mr Baker, 47, quizzed the new occupants, they told him there was nothing of the sort in their home and his search for the source of the din has moved on to boilers and solar panels on the roofs of buildings.

Online research has led Mr Baker to do online research as to try and find out what the source of the noise is.

Mr Baker said: “I have asked my wife whether she can hear it and she always says no, but it’s like I am standing next to a bass drum. Even when I am outside I can still hear it and have been asking the neighbours.

“I thought it might just be me, so started looking up tinnitus and found this condition called The Hum – where a small amount of people can hear noises nobody else can.

“Then it occurred to me I could be the only one, but there must be other people nearby who can hear it – it has to be coming from somewhere.

“We live in a little cul-de-sac and I am looking at solar panels on the houses and thinking could it be that?

“It could be anything from three-and-a-half miles away to two streets.”

The only other person who has heard the noise is Mr Baker’s son Damian.

Colchester Council’s environmental health officers who attended the house at the weekend were also dumbfounded.

Mr Baker added: “It was so loud on Saturday I had to turn up the Paralympics on the television to absolute full volume and I could still hear it.

“I am not getting enough sleep, and it is like I can feel the vibrations which the noise is making and I am really getting towards the end of my tether with it.

“I’m getting headaches. I can hear it all the time but it is worse at night when all the ambient noise has quietened down.

“When my sons visited at the weekend I made the point of not mentioning it before they got here and then asked them whether they could hear it when they arrived. One could and the other could not.”

Mr Baker is hoping someone else suffering from the same affliction will get in touch or find the source of his annoyance.

He added: “I don’t want somebody three or four streets away to be suffering at the same time and think they are alone.

“The only solution might be for me to move but I don’t want to do that - I really like where I live now.”

Anyone with any information can email chad.nugent@nqe.com.