The Iron Duke pub in Cold Bath Road has been host to blues music, live performances and open mic nights for more than 20 years, but has had its entertainment licence revoked after a flurry of complaints from neighbours.

Harrogate Council's licensing committee heard from environmental health officers who said they were concerned about ongoing problems at the pub, which prompted letters and petitions from neighbours who said the noise was unbearable.

Harrogate Police's licensing officer Dale Johnson told the committee the noise coming from the pub in the evenings and on weekends continued to be excessive, despite conditions to the pub's licence being imposed last October in a bid to reduce the problems.

PC Johnson also said the appeal of live music was attracting young people and underage drinkers to the pub and he said the problems were exacerbated at closing time or when people were drinking outside or in the beer garden.

Valley Road resident Jennifer Hill, who catalogued 57 instances when the music has been unreasonably high, said the pub landlord has ignored both the complaints of residents and formal requests from the council to restrict noise levels.

Miss Hill, who said she was being forced out of her home, said: "It has become almost impossible to live in this house – go to bed when I want to, have people to visit and stay, expect to be able to sleep in the evening – and I am having trouble believing that this experience is considered reasonable."

Between mid-April and August 2007, the licensing team received a number of complaints about noise issues, prompting an environmental health officer to apply for a review of the pub's licence because it was causing a nuisance.

John Coen, representing the pub owners Punch Taverns, said the landlord had soundproofed the exterior walls and had been co-operative in working with the council's officers to solve the problem. He suggested suspending the entertainment licence until work had been carried out to make the pub a more suitable music venue, but this was rejected by environmental health officers and the licensing committee.

Matty Jacobs, Harrogate musician and organiser of the annual three-day Thornborough Music Festival at Grewelthorpe which runs from July 4-6 this year, said the local music community was alarmed by the council's lack of support for live rock music.

He said: "This is a body blow to Harrogate's already-threatened music scene. In recent years we've lost the Music Party and the Stalls bar at Harrogate Theatre and Xs nightclub has closed down.

"It's almost at the point where there is nowhere for any interesting bands to play.