Groaning / grinding noises?

[Spokey]

My squeeze lives down the end of a long lane that has really vicious sleeping policemen - they aren't very high, but they're very steep, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, today, after braving them (and I took them extra slowly today as well!), I noticed a sort of grinding sensation I could hear and feel through the steering. When you dab hard on the brakes, it goes away, apart from a very faint chirping noise. It feels almost like the disk is severely warped at one spot and it's catching there (although I'm fairly certain this isn't actually the problem!)

Slightly more worrying is that since this started happening, when I turn the wheel to the right (for instance, to drive into a parking space) I can feel a much stronger, not-dependent-on-rotation groan.

I'm crapping myself over here. Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem might be, and am I OK to drive the car to the dealer?