The first official refugee camp in the history of Paris today opened its doors for the first time – prompting fears that it will become a magnet for thousands of UK-bound migrants.

A trickle of young men was let inside the £6 million facility, which is in a former bus shelter in the north of the French capital, close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub.

While there are only 400 places, demand will be extremely high for the beds, showers, kitchens and even a football pitch that it will provide.

The new camp, close to the Gare du North Eurostar hub, will have spaces for 400 refugees

Residents will be allowed to stay for a few weeks at a time, meaning they can plan their journeys to Britain before moving on.

Others will be transferred to accommodation centres designated for those seeking asylum in France.

A member of Emmaus Solidarite, the charity running the camp, said it would ‘allow men to do all the things they can’t do while living on the street.’

Eight ‘villages’ for 50 people have been built, and there will be 120 full-time workers, and 500 volunteers.

It is expected that demand for spaces in the camp will be high, with French authorities having to clear 4,000 people living illegally in camps nearby last week

It follows CRS riot police last week helping to clear some 4,000 migrants who were living in illegal camps nearby.

The week before, the so called ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais was also razed, so displacing up to 8000 migrants.

Critics of the new centre said it would help attract thousands more young men from countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea.

‘It will certainly be a magnet,’ said Gilles Kateb, a pensioner who lives nearby. ‘They should send them all directly to England instead!

A member of Emmaus Solidarite, the charity running the camp, said it would ‘allow men to do all the things they can’t do while living on the street.’

‘Instead we will have to put up with thousands of unsettled young men living among us while wanting to be somewhere else. Crime will increase, and those not let into the centre will carry on living on the streets nearby.’

Migrants have meanwhile said that the new Paris accommodation centre resembles a detention centre.

It is surrounded by fences, and includes sophisticated security gates where anyone going in or out with be strictly monitored.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said: ‘We are not being naive. This centre will not solve everything, but we finally have a worthy and humane alternative to the street settlements.’