Some 50 houses in Gouda were evacuated on Thursday afternoon after ‘chemicals which could be used to make explosives’ were found in a house, news agency ANP says.

The house, raided by police following a tip-off, is being cleared by explosives experts. The houses which have been evacuated are around the Pluutwerf, a residential area north of the city centre.

A police spokeswoman told website nu.nl it is not clear if the owner of the chemicals had planned to turn them into explosives. No one was in the property at the time and there have been no arrests so far.