Holland rents out prison space to ... Belgium!!!

Supplementing one's income by renting out a spare room is hardly a novel concept, but the Netherlands took it a big step further Friday when, in an European first, it officially leased a prison to Belgium.

With plenty of prison cells to spare, the Netherlands has agreed to admit 500 Belgian inmates into its prison in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg. Belgium will pay the Dutch 30 million euros $41.14 million (26.37 million pounds) a year for the favour under a three-year deal.

Spearheaded last year by former Belgian prime minister Herman van Rompuy -- who is now President of the European Council -- the initiative should provide relief to Belgium's overcrowded prisons until new ones come into operation from 2012. More...

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