When it opened in the spring, it comprised little more than a hotchpotch of tents on the sand dunes.Eight months later, the notorious ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in Calais, has grown into a self-contained mini-city — a permanent magnet for people trying to get to Britain.More than a dozen shops have opened, along with restaurants, libraries, and even makeshift hotels — and, inevitably, an information centre offering advice on how to get asylum in Britain.The main strip, known as the Market, is the beating heart of the Jungle. There’s a dome-shaped theatre which doubles up as an art gallery and an Eritrean nightclub which serves super-strength beer (ironic considering that half of the country’s population are Muslims). A book shop (wittily named Jungle Books, presumably after the Rudyard Kipling tale) provides English and French classes. There are mosques and churches, including a wooden Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox church.The camp, which replaced another that was demolished, started as a stopping place for migrants as they awaited an opportunity to be smuggled illegally out of France across the Channel into BritainAlmost every need is catered for as charities supply hot meals and build wooden shacks, and human rights lawyers offer advice on asylum. For children, there’s a playground with wooden climbing frames.Every Saturday, there is a ‘beauty day’ in a makeshift building, with massages and other treatments available. Men sit at tables and play dominoes while others play table football. Within the Market area, there are a number of restaurants — predominately Kurdish, Eritrean andAfghan — and convenience shops selling food and cigarettes. A Mauretanian artist, Alpha, has set up a sculpture garden.Despite the superficially easy-going atmosphere, at night the mood becomes sinister and there are serious concerns of infiltration by British Islamic militants posing as humanitarian workers. At 1am, ‘the intifada’, as the locals call it, swings into action.Groups of migrants, guided by people-smuggling gangs and left-wing activists, try to stop lorries and cars heading for the UK in the hope of stowing away on them.According to a security guard at a nearby factory, it is ‘guerilla warfare’. Police have been hit by rocks in the clashes. An estimated 4,500 people are living in the Jungle. In one corner of the site, about 50 blue tents, conspicuous by their neat exteriors and sense of orderliness, stand insix neat rows — erected as part of efforts by the French government to improve conditions.The dome-shaped tent was erected by two British activists, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, and named the Good Chance Theatre. Fellow British aid worker Alistaire Hoad provides a mobile phone charging service and plans to roll out free wifi coverage across the entire Jungle area in the New Year.Alongside him is another Briton, student Richard Thanki, who has set up a popular 4G network.One reason for the camp’s growing permanence is the fact that many migrants have been put off trying to cross the Channel because of a number of recent deaths of those trying. Abdelziz Aldowmah, 25, from Sudan, says: ‘I was hoping to go to the UK, but I don’t want to put myself at risk — I have survived in the civil war in Darfur and in the desert, and I won’t take that risk.‘No one wants to stay in the Jungle. But most people here have set their heart on reaching the UK ... the security measures won’t change that.‘Some say if they can’t get to the UK, they will die here in the Jungle.’Not surprisingly, one of the best-selling items in the Market is a drink called Monster Energy, sold by a shopkeeper from Afghanistan who opened a stall after tiring of trying to make it through the Channel Tunnel.‘People try to get to England all the time and they become very tired,’ he said. ‘So they drink Monster.’Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3348594/Restaurants-theatre Follow us: ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU& ;amp;u=MailOnline ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU& ;amp;u=DailyMail