Border police at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport have so far this year collected almost €450,000 in unpaid fines from people about to go on holiday.

This is up 20% on the same period last year, the Volkskrant reported on Friday. July and August are the peak periods for cashing in unpaid fines.

Last year, 7,200 holidaymakers and business travellers paid fines totalling €1.2m after being stopped during passport checks. Only passengers travelling outside the Schengen open border area have to show their passports to police when leaving the country.

The outstanding amounts varied from a few euros to tens of thousands of euros. Most people paid immediately but 700 missed their flights because they were unable to pay the outstanding amounts, the Volkskrant said.