A city pub, popular for its music, turned off its speakers last weekend after a complaint from neighbours revealed it had the wrong licence.

The Windmill in Knox Road said custom collapsed by 75pc on Friday night when it was forced to end its karaoke nights after five years.

New neighbours contacted Norwich City Council to complain about loud music at the pub, and after a visit from a council officer, the pub discovered that it had been running the karaoke nights without the correct licence since 2007.

Landlord Andy Cradock, 44, who took over the pub with wife Barbara in May, said they had only found out they needed a karaoke licence at the venue following the complaint. He said: 'Nobody realised we were not licensed for music on Sunday.

'Nobody knew we needed a separate licence for karaoke.'

He said the pub had suffered because of the noise complaint, with regulars going elsewhere for their music.

Mr Cradock said: 'Everyone else in the neighbourhood frequents the pub and loves the music, but a lot of regulars went elsewhere.'

The pub can still have live music nights, but its weekend karaoke nights have stopped while it applies for a new licence, which will take around a month.

Mr Cradock said the pub was doing all it could to reduce noise levels and had just spent �300 on sound proofing.

Peter Jennings, 54, the former landlord, who started the karaoke nights, said the pub had hosted music nights since before he started drinking there at 18.

He said: 'We always kept the neighbours in mind.

'The Windmill has been a music venue for years.

'It is also a very close community pub, with lots of the locals from Honey Close and Knox Close using it.'

A spokesman for Norwich City Council said: 'It is the responsibility of the licence holder to trade in accordance with the licence granted by the council. We act on any complaints we receive, as was the case in this situation. The licence holder has been made aware of what needs to be done to comply with the licence if karaoke music is to be played – this entails applying for a variation to the existing licence.

'As with all applications of this nature, the process takes 28 days.'

Do you have a story about a pub for the Evening News? Contact David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk.