Girl posts birthday party on facebook. What could possibly go wrong?

This is probably one of the craziest stories I have ever come across. A girl living in a small town called Haren in the Netherlands posted a party invitation on facebook to celebrate her 16th birthday party. She didn't set the event to "private" and the invitation went viral. The invitation was passed onto about 30,000 people. Thousands of people showed up ending in rioting, injury and damage to property. Riot police broke up crowds who flocked to the town. The girl who issued the invitation fled her home in Haren, a town of just under 19,000 on Friday.

Although the party had been cancelled and police had issued an appeal to would-be revellers not to come to Haren 3,000 turned up anyway.

"She posted the invitation on Facebook and sent it to friends, who then sent it to other friends and soon it spread like wildfire across the internet," Groningen police spokeswoman MelanieZwama told AFP news agency.

Hundreds of riot police were deployed to control the crowds, keeping them away from the street where the girl lives.

When trouble began, officers found themselves being pelted with bottles and stones, as well as flower pots even bicycles, the Dutch news agency ANP reports.

At least six people were hurt and 20 arrests were made as rioters vandalised and looted shops, setting a car on fire and damaging street signs and lamp-posts, according to Reuters news agency. Some revellers accused the police of over-reacting.

Elsewhere, Dutch media have been accused of giving the build-up to the party too much publicity. Revellers could be seen wearing T-shirts marked "Project XHaren" after Project X - a film released earlier this year about a party that grows out of control. Such T-shirts had been selling on the internet for 23 euros(£18; $30) apiece. Some featured a crude logo of a man on all fours drinking from a bottle, AFP notes.

A new Facebook page has since been created called "Project Clean-X Haren" to clear up after Friday night's disturbances. It had more than 17,000 "likes" as of yesterday morning.

One can only hope that these people all bought her presents!

On a brighter note here's a funny look at the Dutch police by Harry Enfield and Chums.