No-one seems to know just how many red light district windows there are in Amsterdam, the Volkskrant reported at the weekend.

Even Charles Geerts, the sex industry boss who sold 18 of his properties to a housing corporation does not seem to know how many there are.

Geerts told reporters on Friday there are 250 windows and that the sale of his 18 buildings means the loss of 51, or 20%.

The day before Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen spoke of 51 windows being one third of the total.

The city council's Trend report estimates the total at 360 windows and Els Iping, the leader of the city centre borough council, puts the figure at 350, including brothels outside the official red light district.

Lodewijk Asscher, financial chief on the city council itself, said that the area has 451 windows.

The person most likely to know, the city council civil servant responsible for the area, puts the figure at 384 – and that means only 14% of the total will go with the Geerts sale, the paper says.