Police were called to a refugee centre in the village of Overburg near Utrecht to break up two large fights on Thursday night.

A police spokesman said there were confrontations between different groups of asylum seekers shortly after midnight and then again in the early hours of the morning. According to RTL news, a dispute over a game of football led to the first fight.

Forty police officers and four dog handlers were involved in breaking up the fights, a police spokesman told the Volkskrant. ‘It was a serious breach of the peace,’ he said.

At least two refugees were wounded and taken to hospital and two others were arrested for their role in the disturbances. Details about who was involved in the fights are still sketchy but reports say furniture was also thrown during the fighting.

Meanwhile in Purmerend north of Amsterdam and in the Brabant town of Oudenbosch there were protests by locals about decisions to set up refugee centres, broadcaster Nos said.

In Purmerend a town council meeting had to be cancelled as dozens of locals packed into the council chamber shouting ‘no azc’ (asylum seekers centre). Police were called to remove them from the building.

The PVV emerged as the biggest party in Purmerend in the recent provincial elections, with almost one in five people supporting the anti-immigration party.