Hundreds of migrants are returning to squalid camps near the notorious Calais Jungle - just weeks after the sprawling shanty town was bulldozed, it has been claimed.

The vast encampment was razed in October with thousands of migrants transported around France to new official accommodation.

But there are now claims that up to six hidden camps, including a 'mini-Jungle', are beginning to increase in size in the countryside around the northern port.

Hundreds of refugees are returning to squalid camps near the notorious Calais Jungle - just weeks after the sprawling shanty town was bulldozed, it has been claimed.

The vast encampment was razed in October (pictured) with thousands of migrants transported around France to new official accommodation

Hundreds are said to have returned to the area - weeks after being rehoused in reception centres across the country.

One 'secret' camp has reportedly started growing at the rate of dozens a week near the village of Norrent-Fontes, not far from Calais, according to Mary Bulman for The Independent.

Although it has been in existence since 2008, numbers there have swollen to 130 while activists have described conditions as 'dire'.

Volunteers say several dozen have arrived at the camp, 45 miles from Calais, this week alone.

It is said to be situated up a dirt track leading from a lay-by often used by lorry drivers overnight as they make their way to Calais sparking fears the situation will be exploited by traffickers.

According to the Independent, refugee advocate Professor Sue Clayton from Goldsmith's University found the camp earlier in December.

She said: 'You see it through the trees and it's like a mini-Jungle.

Hundreds are said to have returned to the area - weeks after being rehoused in reception centres. Migrants are pictured at the Jungle in October as clearance got underway

'The shelters are put together with various bits of wood and tarpaulin — whatever they can grab. There is no support there. They’ve divided themselves up so there’s a men’s section and a women and children’s section.

'The authorities will find that more and more of these secret camps will pop up because these people are getting increasingly frustrated.'

She said many had simply made their way back from formal reception centres where they had been rehoused in October.

However, officials insist there are only three 'small' encampments in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais and say they have not recorded any increase in migrant arrivals.

A Nord-Pas-de-Calais prefecture spokesman said there had been no new camps established since the Jungle was destroyed.

France and Britain have tried to make the Calais site less attractive for migrants, erecting a wall that officials said earlier this month had been completed.

The 13-foot wall runs along a 0.6-mile stretch of the main road leading to Calais port, next to the area that used to house the sprawling camp.