The anti-Islam PVV has found enough candidates to field in 30 local authority areas in the March local elections, half the number leader Geert Wilders said he intended to fight in.

The party will contest the March 21 vote in most of the big cities, apart from Amsterdam, and in places where the PVV did well in the general election, such as Emmen, broadcaster NOS said.

Wilders said earlier it had been impossible to find enough good people to stand for election. He has also been forced to withdraw his Rotterdam campaign leader because of his connection with fascist and extreme right groups.

The PVV currently only has local councillors in Almere and The Hague.