Farmers in the Netherlands have escalated protests against the government, which wants to cut nitrogen emissions and has suggested compensation for those who exit farming and restrictions on those who don’t.

Dutch minister for agriculture Carola Schouten said: “The government [plans] to help farmers who want to leave farming. Farms responsible for high nitrogen emissions ... will be the first in line.”

The move triggered a series of huge farmer protests, with thousands of farmers descending on The Hague on 1 October, causing 1,100km tailbacks.

On Tuesday, farmers descended on Maastricht, blocking the motorway en route.

In Groningen, protesters pushed in the door of a provincial government building.

The Ministry of Defence deployed trucks to cordon off The Hague city centre from tractors on Wednesday.

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Watch: thousands of tractors stop traffic in Dutch climate protest

Contractors are 'strongly contemplating going Dutch'