Calais deputy mayor says France must 'find solutions' to 'Jungle' chaos

Calais' deputy mayor has told Sky News the French state must take responsibility for relocating up to 1,000 migrants who remain in and around the "Jungle" camp.

Several hundred migrants, including many minors, spent the night sleeping in or near the charred wreck of the site, despite French authorities declaring on Wednesday that it was "empty".

Calais deputy mayor Philippe Mignonet said: "It's up to the French government to deal with it.

"It said that since yesterday nobody came to take the bus but we see that some people are still there."

Speaking during a visit to a corner of the "Jungle" where hundreds of migrants had gathered, Mr Mignonet added: "When we took the figures (of those who had left the camp and registered) yesterday it was not matching (with the jungle population).

"We knew that about a thousand were somewhere in the area and we have the proof now. It is the French state's responsibility to deal with it so they have to find some solutions.

"There is no way for the mayor to accept for those people to be able to stay in any kind of camp or squat. The French President said there would be nobody once it has been dismantled so they have to find solutions."

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has also reminded the authorities in France of their duty to make sure children who remain in Calais are "properly protected".

A Home Office spokesman said Ms Rudd had spoken with French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve to "reaffirm the UK's commitment" to making sure children eligible to come to the UK "continue to be transferred as quickly as possible".

"Any child either not eligible or not in the secure area of the camp should be cared for and safeguarded by the French authorities," the spokesman added.

Most of those who spent the night around the "Jungle" stayed on the road leading to a reception centre, which has now been closed to migrants still at the camp.

Those who did not register at the centre cannot expect to be resettled by local authorities across France, regional prefect Fabienne Buccio said.

Ms Buccio added: "It is not Calais' role to receive all the migrants of Europe."

Ms Buccio's logic is that if they continue to register migrants and bus them to the official asylum centres, as they have been since Monday, it will encourage more migrants to head to Calais from other camps around Europe.

She said: "We do not want to create a vacuum. We have asked migrants to disperse."

Ms Buccio, who said the demolition of the camp would be complete by Monday night, did not explain where the migrants should go.

Many are now waiting on the edge of the jungle with information changing by the hour.

Charities had consistently warned that proper relocation plans needed to be put in place for everyone in the jungle before the start of any demolition.

With some of the camp burnt by a group of disgruntled migrants and other parts now being bulldozed by the authorities, the 1,000 or so who remain are left without a place to sleep or eat.

Some simple provisions are being provided by grassroots charities which have been operating in the "Jungle" for many months.

On Tuesday afternoon, the children's registration unexpectedly shut, leaving charities to try to help hundreds of migrants under the age of 18.

Dorothy Sang, an aid worker for Save the Children, said: "We spent hours trying to negotiate a place for three young Eritrean boys - two were 13 years old and the other was 14 years old.

"Despite their pleading and most of the jungle being burnt to the ground, these boys were refused."

A volunteer from Help Refugees UK told Sky News that some young migrants slept in a makeshift school, while others managed to jump the fence into the containers where registered minors are staying.

At least 30 people slept on the ground outside the containers.

By early afternoon on Wednesday, a combination of migrants, volunteers and some French firefighters had largely brought the fires under control. They had burned for hours and left skeletal remains of huts dotted across the huge site.

Calais police commissioner Patrick Visser-Bourdon told Sky News that four migrants had been arrested in connection with the blazes.

Thousands have been sent to a network of reception centres around France and 234 minors were transferred to Britain, according to a statement from the French interior minister's office.

Mr Visser-Bourdon said that all minors with links to the UK had been transferred from the camp - but a number of charities said this was not true.

Registered unaccompanied minors, most of them male teenagers, are housed in a semi-permanent shipping container area next to the "Jungle" camp while they wait for French and British asylum experts to process them.

A total of 1,200 minors have been registered.