The Netherlands will on Thursday bring in a ban on the burqa that's already doomed to failure.

Under the new legislation — an idea first proposed back in 2005 by the far-right politician Geert Wilders — face-covering clothing, including the burqa and the niqab but also crash helmets and ski masks, will be outlawed in all public buildings and on public transport, but not in the street. There will be a €150 fine for anyone caught breaking the law.

But there are unlikely to be too many fines handed out as the police, hospitals and public transport staff have already said they won't play ball.

Dutch public transport companies instructed staff to ignore infringements after the police indicated that they don't plan on treating it as a high-priority offense, local media reported.

"That means the law is unworkable," spokesman of the public transport sector Pedro Peters told the AD newspaper. "The police told us they will not attend incidents on a train, bus or metro within half an hour so that means we would be stuck. The service cannot be interrupted."

There are no official figures on how many women in the Netherlands wear a burqa or niqab, but estimates range from 200 to 400.

“If a person wearing a burqa or a niqab is challenged trying to use a service, our staff will have no police backup to adjudicate on what they should do. It is not up to transport workers to impose the law and hand out fines.”

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema told local broadcaster AT5 last year that she wasn't planning on enforcing the ban, because she believes it not to be "fitting with a city like Amsterdam." Rotterdam and Utrecht are also expected to turn a blind eye.

Many hospitals have also said that they will not implement the ban. According to the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers, hospitals "should not be charged with this task, but it is up to the police and the judiciary."

Denmark, France, Belgium, Bulgaria and Austria already have bans on covering your face in public places. In Germany, Spain, Italy and Switzerland there are partial bans, which has been the case in the Netherlands.

There are no official figures on how many women in the Netherlands wear a burqa or niqab, but estimates range from 200 to 400.

The issue became even more contentious when an article in AD on the ban suggested people would be allowed to carry out a citizen's arrest if they felt "bothered" by a person wearing a full-face veil in a public space.

"If you are bothered by the burqa in a place where it is banned, you can ask the woman to take off her burqa or leave the location," the newspaper advised readers, adding that you can also call the police or carry out a citizen's arrest.

"Anyone who detects a criminal offence is entitled to arrest a suspect ... But this is only allowed when someone has been caught in the act and when the suspect is immediately handed over to the police. Coercion may only be used to prevent a suspect from running away, for example by holding someone to the ground."

The police later confirmed on Twitter that a citizen's arrest would indeed be allowed in such a situation.

Dutch MEP Samira Rafaela, of the centrist Renew Europe, said she was "worried" after reading the article and asked the police and public prosecutor's office how they were planning on preventing violence against women who wear the burqa.

Wilders welcomed the ban and said that those who want to wear a burqa should "live in Saudi Arabia or Iran."