Riot police have made a further 12 arrests after a third night of disturbances in the The Hague suburb of Duindorp.

In one case a police officer drew his gun after it appeared that a car was going to drive into a group of people but the driver changed direction at the last minute, the Telegraaf said. Six of those arrested were under the age of 18.

‘There was a lot of smoke and lots of fireworks,’ Omroep West reporter Frank van Deutekom said. ‘Nearly every litter bin was set on fire. It was a cat and house game between troublemakers and police.’

The riots follow a decision by locals not to organise a New Year’s eve bonfire this year, because of new city council regulations limiting the height of the fires to 10 metres.

Last year strong gusts of winds caused ‘fire tornados’ at Scheveningen when they carried flames from a 48 metre-high stack of burning pallets across the seafront.

Duindorp and nearby Scheveningen have competed to build the tallest tower since the 1990s