Sony camera loud mechanical grating noise when focusing

[jonnykerm]

I have a Sony DSC-HX20V compact camera and recently it's started making a really loud mechanical grating type noise when it's trying to focus. It just seemed to happen out of the blue, no damage or anything. I'm very reluctant to just throw it away as it's actually a superb compact camera. Does anyone know what it could be / if it can be fixed?

Cheers!