Dutch wine and spirits retailers have launched a legal challenge to the decision to allow book shops and hairdressers to serve alcoholic drinks to customers in some parts of the country.

The Koninklijke SlijtersUnie says the decision goes against drinking laws which state explicitly that this is not allowed. ‘Alcohol is not the way to stop the decline in inner city retail areas,’ a spokesman said.

The decision to experiment with allowing book shops to sell wine was taken a year ago by economic affairs minister Henk Kamp as part of a plan to make shopping areas more attractive.

At the beginning of this month, the SlijtersUnie won a case against a book shop in Zwolle that had started selling wine before Kamp’s plan came into effect.