A couple say they have been plagued with ill health since they noticed a mysterious buzzing sound in their York home.

Paul Croft, 61, and his wife Keiko, 48, say they have not had a single full night’s sleep since December, when they first noticed the sound in Clay Place, Gale Lane, Acomb.

Paul said: “We had been on holiday and when we came back on December 7 my wife heard a buzzing sound, but it wasn’t too bad and we could still get to sleep. Then, three days later, we heard this wave sound.”

He describes it as a quiet buzzing which switches on and off every few seconds. During the day it is drowned out by road noise, but at night the noise becomes intrusive.

Paul said: “When your head is on the pillow you hear it even more. We have been switching from room to room to try and get away from the noise, but we have only been getting about an hour’s sleep and it is getting us down.”

The Crofts have contacted City of York Council’s noise pollution teams who have left monitoring devices in their home. The Environmental Protection Unit is now analysing recordings made at the house, and is due to visit at night to listen to the noise.

Paul, a former telephone engineer, has his own theories about what is behind it. He says four mobile phone transmitters close to their house could be responsible, especially as they were due to start transmitting 4G signal soon.

About four months ago a power surge blew out a joint in the mains supply very close to their home, and Paul believes the electricity supply could be behind the disturbance.