A 48-year-old woman will appear in court in Amsterdam on Thursday charged with making a hoax phone call about a terrorist bomb threat to the shopping area in the city’s Zuidoost neighbourhood in March, news agency ANP reported on Friday afternoon.

Seven people were arrested and shops closed after an unidentified woman telephoned a warning to police on March 11. She claimed a white van with three men was on its way to the capital from Spain to plant explosives.
The phone call was made from a mobile phone in Brussels. ANP says evidence has now emerged that the women was in Brussels when the call was made.
The call sparked a major security operation but no explosives were found and all seven people arrested were released without charge. The police and justice ministry officials were latercriticised for over-reacting to the threat.