The Romanian authorities have offered to send police officers to Amsterdam to help police on the ground deal with pickpockets, mayor Eberhard van der Laan has told the city council.

It will be up to the police themselves when and where they make use of the Romanian officers, Van der Laan said.

The offer follows an outcry over the number of pickpockets with Romanian nationality arrested during the recent Gay Pride event. Of the 46 arrested, 43 had Romanian nationality.

There are some 166 reported victims of pickpocketing every week in Amsterdam, a rise of 36% on 2011, news agency ANP said.

A police spokesman told ANP Romanian officers would not be patrolling the Dutch streets. ‘We are going to work together but mainly in terms of exchanging information and getting a better picture of the group,’ a spokeswoman said.