A group of about 20 workers began on Tuesday to slowly destroy the Calais "Jungle" camp structures using sledgehammers and by hand, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene, who also saw two small bulldozers waiting nearby.



The demolition of the camp was scheduled to take place as part of government plans to clear it. Until the start of this week it was home to over 6,000 people, most of them hoping to reach Britain a short distance across the sea.



The government has been bussing the people to resettlement centers elsewhere in France.



A large fire that had been blazing in the camp earlier in the afternoon appeared to have died down.