Amsterdam is to phase out the use of cash on buses in an effort to cut down the number of robberies, the city’s mayor Eberhard van der Laan said on Friday.

His comments followed a lightning strike by bus drivers in the north of the city on Friday morning, in protest at a spate of hold-ups. One 15-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with the most recent incident.

People without a public transport card will have to pay by direct debit card on the buses from the beginning of next year, the mayor said at the presentation of the city’s crime figures.

It is not clear whether people will still be able to pay for day tickets on trams with cash, local broadcaster AT5 said. The local public transport company GVB has not yet commented on the mayor’s statement.

Crime figures

The number of gangland killings in Amsterdam fell to six last year, compared with around 10 in the preceding years, news agency ANP reports.

The number of burglaries and muggings also fell, although there was a rise in armed robberies and pick-pocketing offences.