LOUD air raid-like sirens startled many sleeping residents in Windsor and Eton due to a “system fault” at Eton College.

Locals jumped out of their beds in the early hours at about 4:15am on a Saturday, July 17, after sirens were heard across the towns.

One resident claimed they heard the loud noises as far as Cippenham village in neighbouring Slough.

In a statement, Eton College confirmed the loud siren noise came from them due to a “system fault”.

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They said: “On Saturday morning the school emergency siren was set off due to a system fault which has now been rectified. We apologise to local residents for the disturbance this caused.”

Nothing was reported to Thames Valley Police.

Residents took to social media to make sense of why sirens were being heard and vent their frustration after being awoken from their slumber.

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One local said: “Woke me, had to get up around 4:20am and look out of the window, knew it was some sort of siren, not an alarm. Never heard anything like it before as born after the war.”

Another wrote: “I wondered [where] on earth that was coming from! I’m in Cippenham Village.”

“I was already awake,” wrote another resident, “Never heard anything like it. I thought it was someone in my block making weird groaning noises because I couldn’t see anything out the window.”