Talks on forming a new coalition administration in Amsterdam are on the verge of collapse and the man in charge of the negotiations has quit, according to media reports on Wednesday.

D66 emerged as the biggest party in the capital after the March local elections but have been unable so far to put together a coalition. The left-wing greens pulled out last week following the involvement of the right wing Liberal VVD in the negotiations.

Thom de Graaf, who was in charge of the talks, recommended involving both the Labour party (PvdA) and the Socialists but the two left-wing parties said no to the idea of a four-party coalition.

All eight parties represented on the council will meet tonight to try to find a way out of the impasse.

D66 won 15 seats in the local elections. Labour support plunged to 10 and the VVD, GroenLinks and SP all have six. The new coalition needs to control at least 23 of the 45 seats to have a majority.

According to the Parool, D66 runs the risk of being eased out of the talks and that Amsterdam could get a left-wing coalition.