Rotterdam police will not face charges for shooting dead a man in the district of Charlois at the beginning of last month, the public prosecution department said on Thursday.

The 29-year-old man died at the scene after being hit twice by police bullets as he waved a ‘sort of tomahawk’, news agency ANP reported.

The man had earlier become embroiled in a dispute with wardens after refusing to put his dogs on a lead.

The police investigation showed the officers had used their guns as officially proscribed and that the action was necessary to stop other people getting hurt.

At the time, eyewitnesses spoke of seven or eight shots being fired.