Hollande pledge on Calais 'Jungle'

CALAIS' Jungle migrant camp will be 'completely' and 'definitively' dismantled, President Francois Hollande has said on his first official visit to the town during his term of office.

He also called on the UK 'to do its part' to deal with the issue of migrants heading to the port in a bid to travel across the Channel.

Mr Hollande was due to meet police and local officials during his brief visit to Calais, where he was due to inaugurate an extension of the port, but was not expected to visit the camp itself, where an estimated 7,000 people live in squalid conditions.

He reiterated comments he made on Saturday, when he promised to take down the campa and set up 'reception and orientation centres' for asylum seekers.

Last week, work began to build a €2.2million, 1km long and 4m high wall to deter people from trying to hide on vehicles heading for Britain.

Illegal immigration is likely to be a hot topic during next year's Presidential election campaign.

Although he has not formally declared his intention to run for a second term, Mr Hollande has recently stepped up his political rhetoric on the issue of illegal immigration in response to pressure from Nicolas Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen.

Mr Hollande's comments echo those made previously by interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who said that the camp would be dismantled by the end of the year.