The arrest total during Sunday’s riots in various towns and cities throughout the Netherlands has been revised up to between 250 and 300, police said on Monday afternoon.

Most of the arrests took place in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, where a number of people still remain in custody.

While a number of the gatherings included people who wanted to demonstrate peacefully, there were also groups who ‘were out for a riot and deliberately sought confrontation,’ the spokesman said.

Prime minister Mark Rutte has described the violence that accompanied anti-lockdown protests in some Dutch towns and cities as ‘unacceptable’.

Curfew

Police also handed out 5,675 fines to people breaking the curfew since Saturday, when the 9pm deadline to get home was introduced.

In total, last week 7,045 people were fined for not complying with the coronavirus rules, including social distancing, wearing face masks and selling alcohol, police said.

Meanwhile, in the Limburg town of Venlo, mayor Antoin Scholten has declared a state of emergency until February 9, the date the curfew is due to be lifted. ‘Stay home. Do it for yourself and for all of us,’ the mayor said in a video appeal.