The Dutch armed forces have again failed to attract enough recruits to counteract the impact of people leaving the service, the Telegraaf says on Wednesday.

The service needed to recruit 3,100 new soldiers this year to replace those leaving because their contract has expired or are moving to a new job. However, so far only 2,650 people have signed up, leaving 14% of vacancies unfilled.

The shortfall is being felt across all branches of the armed services, apart from the military police, which has managed to fill its quota of 340 new officers, the Telegraaf says.