Police have arrested the driver of the car who, they say, deliberately drove into a primary school in the Noord-Holland town of Grootebroek on Wednesday evening.

No-one was hurt when the car hit the ‘t Palet primary school, where Group 8 children and parents were celebrating the end of the school year in the gym.

Police said on Thursday morning that the 55-year-old man, a parent of children at the school, was involved in a conflict and was ‘unable to contain himself’. He was also thought to be drunk at the time.

‘We were sitting on the ground in the gym when we heard a lot of noise, as if something really heavy hit the ground,’ one eyewitness told the AD. ‘The children were calm at first, but when they realised what was going on… they were very shocked.’

Photographs show that the car, a Renault Clio, was able to drive through the school corridor for several metres before stopping.