Riot police were drafted in to break up demonstrations against refugee centres in two Dutch towns on Tuesday evening, as protesters threw fireworks and eggs and chanted racist slogans.

In Houten, near Utrecht, three people were arrested, and five were detained at a protest in Uithoorn, south of Amsterdam.

Around 100 people took part in the Houten town hall demonstration against the establishment of a refugee centre. The council is considering housing 337 refugees in an industrial area on the edge of the town.

In Uithoorn, several hundred people demonstrated outside the town hall before marching through the town, some carrying a version of the Dutch flag used by the Dutch Nazi party, news agency ANP reported.

“We will not accept threats, violence and disruption of the democratic process,” mayor Pieter Heiliegers told local media. “That is why we unfortunately had to scale up our response.”

Uithoorn council is considering plans to provide housing for 250 refugees.

Protests against asylum centres and shelters have escalated in recent weeks, leading to dozens of arrests nationwide.

The demonstrations come as councils face mounting pressure from the government to create more housing for asylum seekers amid a continuing shortage of accommodation.

Local authorities warned earlier this month that councils are being left to cope “on their own” and urged the caretaker government to act swiftly.