The town of Culemborg, just south of Utrecht, was hit by a string of fires on Wednesday night.

A former swimming pool which is being converted into a mosque, and six cars, went up in flames in the Terwijde district of the town, broadcaster NOS reported.

Much of the former swimming pool, bought by the local Islamic community association for €410,000 last year, was destroyed in the fire, which started at around 9pm.

At 2am, the police and fire brigade were called out to deal with six car fires in separate parts of the residential district. Police do not yet know if there is a link between the blazes.

Dozens of cars have been destroyed by fire in Culemborg in 2016. Nationwide there were 6,000 reports, a rise of 10% on 2015, broadcaster NOS said.