Police have broken up a demonstration by around 200 people against proposals to build two accommodation centres for asylum seekers south of Amsterdam.

Officers intervened at around 8pm when a group of protesters tried to force their way into Uithoorn town hall, where a committee meeting was due to discuss the asylum situation.

Police used batons to disperse the crowd after mayor Pieter Heiliegers and local aldermen tried unsuccessfully to talk to the demonstrators.

Uithoorn decided last November to house asylum seekers in a commercial building for 15 years. But in April the neighbouring municipality in Amstelveen approved plans for another facility next to the border with Uithoorn.

Uithoorn council has criticised the decision and raised the issue with the king’s commissioner for North Holland.

The meeting on Tuesday was not due to make any decision about the asylum facility, but protesters gathered outside in a response to a message posted by a campaign group on Facebook.

Wilders in Zwolle

Demonstrations against asylum seeker centres have been held across the Netherlands in recent months, some of which have been attended by far-right political leaders such as Geert Wilders.

In July Wilders addressed a crowd outside Zwolle’s council offices, where councillors approved a scheme to accommodate 400 refugees in a newbuild neighbourhood which is due to be completed in 2027.

He told protesters to continue their campaign even after councillors voted in favour of the scheme. “The times when we accepted this are over,” he said.

On Tuesday the refugee accommodation agency COA was fined €50,000 after the number of asylum seekers at the reception centre in Ter Apel exceeded the limit of 2,000 overnight.

The COA said it had flagged up the problem back in July, but had been unable to persuade local authorities to create an extra 2,600 accommodation places for asylum seekers before the autumn.