An armed man has taken at least four people hostage in the city hall in the Dutch city of Almelo, about 150km (100 miles) east of Amsterdam, reports say.

A city council member and three others were reported to be among those being held by the owner of a restaurant.

The man had recently lost his restaurant licence, the national broadcaster NOS said.

According to one report, he set his car on fire in front of the city hall, then slipped in as it created a diversion.

His restaurant was also rephostaorted to have been burned down - TV pictures showed firefighters battling the flames in a cafe building.

Dutch media said about 50 employees were escorted from the city hall by police at about 1200 GMT, about three hours after the stand-off began.

Police have sealed off the area and said they were trying to contact the man.