The wheel clamp, the yellow metal contraption fixed to car tyres so they cannot be driven away, is being used in four of the biggest Dutch cities, the Telegraaf said on Thursday, after asking 20 local authorities about the issue.

Den Bosch, The Hague, Terneuzen and Amsterdam are all using wheel clamps again in a bid to stop people – mainly tourists – driving off without paying a fine, the paper said.

Germany has recently stopped supplying the Netherlands with information about drivers who have picked up parking tickets, making it impossible to levy the fines, the paper said. Poland, France and Britain continue to refuse to do so.

Eindhoven and Utrecht plan to start using wheel clamps again in the autumn, while Middelburg, Vlaardingen and Nijmegen have similar plans in the pipeline, the Telegraaf said.

Bob Sonntag, of wheel clamp maker Vadac, told the paper his company had been overwhelmed with orders.

In Amsterdam removing a wheel clamp costs €194 plus the unpaid parking fines.