A 20-year-old man has told police he was hired to carry out bomb attacks that damaged Polish supermarkets around the turn of the year.

The man, Hyron A., said he had planted explosives outside the stores in Beverwijk and Tilburg in January and Aalsmeer in December last year, NH Nieuws reported. A.’s lawyer, Veerle Hammerstein, has confirmed his client’s confession.

A. said he was acting under orders but would not reveal who asked him to blow up the supermarkets. He told police: ‘I wanted to earn money, but I’ve never seen any.’

The Warszawa XL store in Tilburg was completely destroyed in a blast on January 4 that shattered windows in a 100-mile radius. Nobody was injured in the attack, which happened at around 2am.

The prosecution service has launched two separate investigations into the explosions and has identified nine suspects, including A. The motive for the attacks remains unknown.