In total, 152 Amsterdam households wrongly given an extra social security payout last year are refusing to return the cash, the city council said on Wednesday.

Almost 10,000 households were wrongly paid thousands of euros in extra housing benefit, costing the city €188m at the end of last year.

A combination of errors meant some people expecting a €155 payment received €15,500 instead. The highest wrong payment was €34,000, according to the Parool.

Repayments

While most of the cash has been recovered, 405 households have not yet repaid the money, the council says. The total they owe is €2.3m.

A number of households (148) have worked out a repayment scheme with the council while 105 cannot pay and will have the debt delayed until they have more income.

In total, 152 households have refused to cooperate with efforts to recover the money and could be taken to court, the city council said.