A man was shot dead and several others arrested while allegedly trying to spring a prisoner from jail, in a brazen escape plot that included plans to use a hijacked helicopter, Dutch police said on Wednesday

"Amsterdam police during an investigation suspected that there was a plan afoot to spring a prisoner from jail" in the southern town of Roermond, the capital’s detective chief Olivier Dutilh said.

The prisoner’s accomplices "planned to hijack a helicopter... and use it to free the prisoner," Dutilh told journalists at a press conference broadcast from Amsterdam.

"However, the plan was foiled," the police chief said without giving further details.

Dutch media reported that a man – believed to have been one of the accomplices – was shot dead near Roermond, about 21 miles north of Maastricht, after a police chase.

Three other suspects were arrested.