DURING all hours of the day and night it goes bing bong bing bong', and has left South Marston residents scratching their heads.

Even the parish council has asked people if they know anything about a mysterious UFO.

Because villagers have been hearing a strange, other-worldly noise.

From his home in Old Vicarage Lane, Allen Williams watches intently with a pair of binoculars, but it is only the sound he can hear on a daily basis.

"I hear it all the time, it sounds like something out of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind," he said.

"It's been going on for a few weeks and I haven't been able to spot anything that gives a clue as to what it is."

As the nephew of the famous Hammerman poet Alfred Williams, who worked at the Great Western Railway, Allen might be forgiven for having a vivid imagination.

But the 71-year-old lives with his wife Mary and son Ian, 41, who have all heard the same thing.

Allen said: "It is over to the west of us and neighbours have mentioned it too.

"It happens for a few minutes at regular intervals and has even started at 1am.

"It appears to be coming from the old Vickers airfield, which would make an ideal landing site for the spacecraft.

"Local people have made searches but have not been able to source where the noise.

"If you were close to the noise it would be quite loud and I suspect it's coming from a point about one mile from my house."

There are apparently two sets of tones, one rising in frequency and another going down.

Mr Williams said: "It is very hard to describe but it's certainly there.

"However, I do not see any coloured lights appearing at the same time."

The mystery is not only perplexing Allen.

Parish council clerk Roger Powell has posted an appeal for information on the village website, www.southmarston.co.uk He said: "In the last five weeks or so a new noise nuisance has arrived in the village.

"This can best be described as a noise used in public address systems in advance of an announcement being made. There is no definite pattern as to when it occurs. It can be day or night with gaps of many hours or only a few minutes between occurrences.

"The parish council would like to know the source of the noise so that action can be taken to deal with it. Can you solve the mystery or provide any clues as to the likely source?"

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Roger on 01793 827515 or by emailing clerksmpc@aol.com