At least seven people were stabbed to death in Amsterdam last year by someone with psychiatric issues, according to new police figures issued on Monday.

The murder rate in Amsterdam soared from 12 to 20 last year and in 14 cases, the victim was stabbed to death. In seven of those cases, the killer had mental health issues.

The police have warned several times about the number of call outs they get to deal with people with psychiatric issues and say the increase is leading to public concern.

“There have been multiple cases in which people have formed a danger to themselves and others in broad daylight,” the report said.

The city has now started a pilot project to centralise reports about people causing trouble because they have mental health issues, involving police, the regional health boards and city officials.

The police registered almost 150,000 reports of problems caused by people with psychiatric issues last year, a rise of 6% on 2023, according to annual figures published last month by the national force.

The number of mental health call-outs has been rising steadily for years and includes serious as well as minor incidents, police say.