The street where nobody sleeps because it's home to rare noisy toads

You can hear them but few have ever seen them.

It's thought they originally hitched a ride to these shores from the Continent hundreds of years ago.

What's more, their nocturnal calling - likened to the beep of a supermarket checkout scanner - is guaranteed to keep you awake, as the locals on one mid Wales street know only too well.

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Those that live in Montpellier Park in Llandrindod Wells have for years struggled to sleep with the noise made by their unlikely neighbours, namely a large group, or knab, of Midwife toads.

So called because of the male's tendency to carry a string of fertilised eggs on the base of its back, the species is native to Western Europe and rarely seen in the daylight.

Wildlife presenter Iolo Williams tracks down a toad by torchlight (BBC Wales)

After the sun goes down though, there's no getting away from them.

And that's exactly what's been driving some folk mad.

"One or two people thought the beeping was something to do with the nearby railway line and even rang up Network Rail to find out what was going on," said resident Carol Taylor.

"Others have been like, 'Oh, this is awful, what is it'?"

Speaking on the BBC Wales nature show Iolo's Street Life, Carol added that no one had any idea how or why the toads had converged on that particular area.

"I read somewhere about them ending up in Bedfordshire in the late 1800s having come over from France hidden in flowerpots, but I don't know for sure."

Their call has been likened to a supermarket checkout scanner (BBC Wales)

But, while Carol's immediate neighbours confessed to finding the toads disruptive, those on the other end of Montpellier Park have learned to live with the noise.

"It's not so bad where I live and I actually find their chirping quite a pleasant sound," said Sian Meredudd, a retired teacher and local councillor for more than four decades.

"Those in the houses down near the park have it much worse. It's been going on for several years now and is at its loudest during mating season.

"They might only be the size of a 50p piece, but those toads make a heck of a racket."

You can catch up on all three episodes of Iolo's Street Life on iPlayer now.

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