Large reserves of gas and oil have been found under the most northerly parts of the Dutch reaches of the North Sea, the Telegraaf reports on Tuesday.

The discovery comes after nearly three years of seismic research carried out on behalf of state-owned energy company Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN).

The new reserves will be more difficult to exploit than the gas fields off the coast of Groningen, but EBN estimates they will be worth billions of euros to the treasury.