A former MEP for the anti-Islam PVV has been jailed for five months, three suspended, and given 240 hours community service for trying to seduce three young teenagers by promising them cash and gifts.

The court in The Hague said Daniël van der Stoep (35) had operated in an extremely calculating way and continually pushed the boundaries in his contacts with the girls.

In doing this, he made use of his status as a European parliamentarian and the accompanying salary and swore the girls to secrecy as he offered them money, gifts and cocaine, the court found.

Police began investigating Van der Stoep after the father of one of the girls found online correspondence between the politician and his daughter.

Van der Stoep represented the PVV in the European parliament from 2009 but left the party in 2011 after he was arrested for causing a car accident while drunk. He stayed in Brussels as an independent but lost his seat in the July European elections.