Police have confirmed that a suspicious object found in a square in Amsterdam-Zuidoost was a hand grenade.

The grenade was made safe by the bomb disposal service EOD after being found on Bijlmerplein at around 4am on Thursday. Police were responding to reports of explosions in the area.

It is the third time in two days that an explosive device has been found in a public place in Amsterdam. On Tuesday night a grenade was left in the doorway of a hotel in the Vondelpark area and explosives were discovered at a business address on Lemelerbergweg in Zuidoost.

Justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus recently revealed that there have been 16 incidents involving grenades at hotel and catering businesses in Amsterdam since the beginning of last year. In 10 cases a device exploded.

The city recently decided to stop automatically closing premises that were targeted in shootings and grenade attacks amid concerns that unscrupulous business owners were deliberately targeting their rivals.