A STOURBRIDGE woman says she is being driven "mad" by mysterious night-time noises in her home.

Chris Whitehouse even tried sleeping in a tent in her garden to escape a constant low rumbling sound and vibration which seems only to affect her council house.

The tired-out tenant is now back in the property but says the disturbance is so bad she is getting just two hours rest each night and no-one seems able to find the cause.

Mrs Whitehouse, aged 60, said: "It's driving me insane, I'm not sleeping because of the vibration and it's getting worse, me and my daughter tried sleeping in a tent in our garden but we could still feel it.

"It is like a low drone and they have never found out what it is. Now my daughter won't sleep here and one of my cats sits staring down the sink.

"I can't stand living here any more, I would go back to a tent if I thought I could get a good night's sleep."

Problems began in November 2010 when Mrs Whitehouse, who has lived in her Grange Road house for 12 years, felt vibrations which she says seem to come from beneath the property.

Dudley Council engineers ruled out faults with the house, its central heating or gas, electrical and water supplies and said there was nothing more they could do.

None of her neighbours reported anything unusual and an investigation by Severn Trent Water found there were no underground pumps or leaking pipes causing vibrations.

Mrs Whitehouse says she does not want to move out but has no choice and has applied for another council house, although she has been told she is low on the priority list for similar accommodation.

With no end in sight to her sleep-deprived situation, desperate Mrs Whitehouse is urging people to contact Dudley Council if they are experiencing unusual sounds or vibrations coming from under their homes.

She said: "At the moment I feel isolated, it's like telling people you have seen a UFO. If other people come forward they would do more about it - I just want to go to bed and sleep."