
These remarkable aerial photographs show how the Calais migrant camp has ballooned to the size of a small town that is now home to some 5,000 refugees.

Up to 150 migrants are arriving each day at the controversial shanty town – dubbed the 'New Jungle' – before trying to sneak into Britain.

The tented community is now so established in the dunes just outside the French port that the migrants even have their own shops, churches, mosques and a farm.

Many use the camp as a springboard for launching dangerous attempts to reach the UK by jumping onto lorries and Eurotunnel trains which have sparked a summer of travel misery for British holidaymakers.

Scroll down for video

Sprawling: An aerial view tented migrant camp dubbed the 'New Jungle' which is now understood to be home to some 5,000 migrants

Staging post: Up to 150 migrants are arriving each day at the shanty town in the dunes outside Calais before trying to sneak into Britain

Making themselves at home: The tented community is now so established the migrants have their own shops, churches, mosques and a farm

Many are using the camp as a springboard for launching dangerous attempts to reach the UK by jumping onto lorries and Eurotunnel trains

The camp – which is also known as 'Jungle Two' – has been branded an 'intolerable humanitarian scandal' and a 'government-sanctioned slum' by activist groups.

The migrants moved to the dunes after they were kicked out of their former camp, called the Jungle.

State authorities pushed them away from the city to the wasteland next to the Jules Ferry centre, which was renovated with a £3million EU grant to shelter women migrants.

It also now provides food and shower facilities for the thousands of men who have set up camp nearby.

The 'town' – estimated population 5,000 – already boasts three shops, selling essentials such as tinned food, fizzy drinks and washing up liquid (and with someone else's supermarket trolleys outside)

In response to criticism about the conditions, France has vowed to spend £360,000 improving the camp, which lies near the English Channel

Solace: Christians mainly from Eritrea have built this church in the 'New Jungle' migrant camp in Calais after fleeing their native country

A mosque which has been built in the Calais migrant camp. The new town, recently described by aid workers as 'the worst in Europe – if not the world', is seen as a 'tolerated zone' by the French authorities

The migrant camp is just a few hundred metres from the ferry and Eurotunnel terminals, giving them prime position to try to sneak into Britain

Between 50 and 150 migrants are said to be arriving in Calais every day as increasing numbers make their way to Europe across the Mediterranean.

Many living in the New Jungle camp have fled conflicts in Syria, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa, while others have arrived by land, often travelling from places like Afghanistan via the Balkans.

The new town, also recently described by aid workers as 'the worst in Europe – if not the world', is seen as a 'tolerated zone' by the French authorities.

The migrants hope to gain entry to the Britain, just 21 miles away across the English Channel, but in May, French police destroyed their camp and told the migrants to go elsewhere. And so they moved... across the street

Slum: The new town, described by aid workers as 'the worst in Europe – if not the world', is seen as a 'tolerated zone' by the French authorities

Many living in the camp made the perilous boat crossing across the Mediterranean, having fled conflicts in Syria, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa

In response to the criticism about the conditions by the UN and other aid groups, France has vowed to spend €500,000 (£360,000) improving the camp, which lies close to the English Channel.

News of the makeover provoked a furious response earlier this year from France's former employment minister Xavier Bertrand, who blamed Britain's 'black jobs market' for attracting thousands of migrants to Calais.

He said: 'This means the English – and here is the hypocrisy – have a cheap labour market because illegal immigrants are paid so much less.'

'If Mr Cameron wants to hold a debate about the European Union, he should first stop this hypocrisy.