VILLAGERS are being kept awake at night by a strange vibrating noise known as "the hum".

The sound, like a diesel engine, started two months ago in the tiny hamlet of Woodland, Co Durham.

It can be heard from around midnight until 4am and has been baffling scientists.

Villager Marylin Grech is one of those who have been suffering sleepless nights. She said: "It vibrates right through the house. It's ­definitely coming from outside – it's in the air."