Two days after a warning the manufacturer would go bust, the transport ministry has told daycare centres and after school clubs they may again use the electric wagon known as a Stint to move children around.

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen told MPs that the Stint, now upgraded and renamed the BSO Bus, was roadworthy on Wednesday night, although, she said, there are risks inherent in all light vehicles.

On Monday, the company founder told RTLZ that he had sacked all his staff and the company was about to fold because the ministry was taking so long to reach a decision.

Stints have been banned from the road since one was involved in an accident at a railway crossing at Oss in 2018, in which four children aged four to eight were killed.

Some 3,000 Stints were in use in the Netherlands before the accident, and 1,500 new versions are currently in storage at the company’s factory in Nijkerk.