A Dutch woman has kept her dead 83-year-old mother in the freezer for a week because she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye.

"The woman froze her mother's body and kept it for a week," police spokeswoman Esther Boot said.

"She couldn't say goodbye."

A family friend contacted police on Monday, saying they could "no longer live" with the secret of the body in the freezer.

Police went to the house in Kamperland, a small town in the southwestern Netherlands, and the 46-year-old daughter immediately confessed.

"There was no indication that the mother didn't die of natural causes, but the body has nevertheless been taken for an autopsy," Ms Boot said.

The daughter was taken to the police station, interviewed and examined by a psychiatrist and allowed to return home.

Police said the daughter was "too sad" to let her mother go.

"She wanted to keep her nearby," Ms Boot said.

The two women had lived together for 17 years, during which time the daughter took care of her mother day and night "with lots of love", police said.

"We don't yet know if there will be criminal proceedings, that's up to the prosecutor," Ms Boot said.

"Technically it's a crime to keep a body in the freezer."