Takeaway said in a statement that it expects about 20% of restaurants on its platform will ask for the exemption.

It said that around 2,000 new restaurants have signed up for its services since the Dutch government ordered restaurants to close to the public earlier this month.

The company, which has limited in-house delivery, said it was hurrying to roll out its own scooter delivery service in the Netherlands as quickly as possible.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Jan Harvey)