GETTY A massive backlash from local residents of a village means 60 refugees won't be relocated there

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The people of Gussignies, a small village on the Franco-Belgian border a two-hour drive from Calais, categorically refused to welcome the asylum seekers, and warned local officials that they were willing to go to extreme lengths in order to put a stop the relocation plan. Locals threatened to occupy the reception centre and form an anti-immigrant group after claiming that the authorities had ignored their growing concerns.

Given the population’s violent opposition, I think we have no choice but to give up, and relocate the migrants elsewhere Philippe Duval

Xavier Bailleux, a local bar owner, told television station France Info that the imminent destruction of the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp “right before Christmas” was the government’s way of “duping” the public into thinking that the migrant crisis was now under control. He said: “Nothing has been done to actually help these migrants. These people and their problems are going to end up on my terrace. It’s bad for business.”

GOOGLE MAPS Residents of Gussignies categorically refused to welcome the asylum seekers

Despite the €500,000 (£449,000) allocated to each host town, locals say that their village – which is a major, albeit rugged, tourist attraction – does not need the money, and that the isolated location would make it hard for migrants to fully integrate into society.

Jungle Migrant Camp in protests Mon, October 3, 2016 Up to 10,000 migrants are now living at the camp and are using desperate and violent measures to try and board trucks heading for the UK. Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 24 Demonstrators protest near the area called the

“What is a 25- or 30-year-old going to do here all day?” said a local villager. “They can stay one month, two months, even six months, but then what? A family could adapt, but not a group of more than 60 people.

PH Virginie Klès was forced to admit defeat

On Tuesday, Virginie Klès, the local State representative in charge of relocating the migrants across the region, was forced to admit defeat, mere hours after locals reiterated their deep-seated hostility towards the immigrants during a stormy debate.

GOOGLE MAPS Locals of the village threatened to occupy the reception centre and form an anti-immigrant group