Thousands of people gathered in Amsterdam on Sunday to protest against the coronavirus rules, but there was no repeat of the problems of two weeks ago, when thousand defied a city council ban and turned up anyway.

Police said on Sunday evening that some 15,000 people had taken part. They were joined by 30 farmers with tractors, some of whom had driven from Groningen and Friesland, broadcaster NOS reported.

The demonstration was given the green light by the police and mayor Femke Halsema, who nevertheless designated several parts of the city as high risk areas, giving police the right to stop and search people for weapons.

Demonstrators gathered in Westerpark, the Stadionplein area and in Oosterpark before converging on the Museumplein and then going on a march through the city centre.

In total there were nine arrests, police said. None were for public order offences.

Campaign group Nederland in Verzet organized the demo in to ‘commemorate’ the riots last January, in which 240 people were arrested nationwide.

A group of anti-fascist campaigners, who were protesting about the presence of far right groups at the demo, were removed to the nearby Max Euweplein by police.