The Netherlands has some 1,500 illegal drinking dens – mainly caravans and sheds where youngsters in rural areas get together – according to new research for the health ministry.

Drinking dens are most common in northern and eastern provinces – Overijssel, Drenthe, Friesland and Gelderland – and usually confined to the countryside, the researchers said.
The countryside may be more popular with illicit drinkers because there is room to set up drinking dens and youngsters have close ties with each other, Joost Mulder of the alcohol policy institute Stap told the Volkskrant.
‘One provides a car to fetch the drink, the other is good with electricity,’ Mulder said. ‘These close contacts may be more common in the country.’
Local councils have been under pressure to close down illegal drinking dens, not least because they are popular with under-age drinkers.