In Amsterdam, the first restraining orders have been handed out to two taxi drivers.

Police say the two drivers exhibited anti-social behaviour on Friday night and Saturday morning at the taxi rank on the city’s Leidseplein - in the heart of one of the popular nighttime entertainment areas. The two were banned from that particular taxi rank for the rest of the weekend.

Police have been authorised to issue such restraining orders to people behaving badly since last Thursday. The measure was quickly introduced following the death of a man at the hands of a taxi driver on Leidseplein one week ago.

The 44-year-old man got into an argument with a taxi driver who then hit him. The man died a few hours later in hospital.

Photo of Leidseplein by Nallstar (flickr)