Strange sound late at night spooks residents
LIKE aliens arriving or Godzilla were among the ways baffled residents described a mysterious noise that left swathes of Runcorn and Widnes gripped in suspense on Friday night.
The noise, which sounded like banging and also deep heavy breathing, rang out during the late evening.
Social media users inundated the Weekly News with queries about the strange noise.
Speculation ranged from bridge works to a gas leak.
Cheshire police tweeted that it had received a lot of calls regarding a ‘strange scraping noise in the Lower House (Lane)/Ditton area’ and that officers had ‘identified the cause, which is nothing for concern and the company involved is dealing with the cause’.
The constabulary issued a short statement to the Weekly News on Monday, which said the noise was coming from machinery in Widnes.
It said: “On Saturday, January 18, police received a number of reports of a strange scraping noises in the Widnes area.
“Following enquiries officers established that the noise was coming from machinery at an industrial site on Foundry Lane.
“Engineers at the site were dealing with the incident and there was no risk to the general public.
An Environment Agency investigation is under way and the organisation was unable to confirm where the noise was emanating from when the Weekly News made contact on Monday.
An EA spokeswoman said: “We are investigating a similar report, but do not have any details confirmed just yet.”
A Health And Safety Executive spokesman said the agency had received no reports of incidents in the area but the reporting window for firms is 10 days so companies could yet file a report.
There was also a rumour that the noise was coming from ‘ICI’.
However, the company ceased to exist over a decade ago.
Inovyn, part of Ineos and which operates a large chemical plant in Runcorn, issued a short statement to the Weekly News saying it could confirm there were no issues at the site on Friday evening and the early hours of Saturday.
Halton Borough Council has not commented on the issue.
The borough, which hosts a lot of heavy industry as well as neighbouring similar areas, is no stranger to weird noises.