THE transfer of vulnerable children from Calais to the UK has been temporarily halted while the notorious refugee camp known as the “Jungle” is demolished.

The process was frozen as French authorities began the process of evicting thousands of desperate migrants in scenes that were at times chaotic.

At least 50 armed riot police were deployed to control the crowds, while small scuffles broke out and punches thrown.

At the weekend, violent clashes saw camp residents throwing stones at police, who responded with tear gas.

Earlier, hundreds of people carrying their worldly belongings had queued to register for accommodation centres elsewhere after being told they must leave or risk arrest and deportation.

Approximately 2,000, including an estimated 300 children, boarded dozens of buses which were despatched to regions all over France.

Demolition is expected to start at the camp, known for its squalid conditions, today.

Tory MPs have called for greater checks at home borders to prevent anyone illegally entering the UK.

But Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the UK Government would provide £36 million to French-based controls in an attempt to ensure the “Jungle” remained closed.

She also told MPs the UK would not accept any new children who arrive in Calais after the camp has been cleared.

Ms Rudd said it was “important we do not encourage more children to head to Calais, risking their lives in the hands of traffickers”.

Officials are keen to eradicate the “pull factors” that lure refugees to the French town.

However, critics say that more important are the “push” factors from war-ravaged countries and a migrant crisis that has left thousands homeless.

About 200 children have been brought to Britain from the camp since early this month.

Several hundred more are expected to arrive over the next new few weeks.

Priority will be given to children under 13 and those likely to be granted refugee status or who might be at high risk of sexual exploitation.

Ms Rudd said the opposition of the French public to the camp threatened Britain’s treaty with France, which puts the UK border at Calais and not Dover.

“By clearing the camp, we can help secure the future of the juxtaposed controls as well as playing our part to help those most in need in Calais,” she said.

More than 80 buses are expected to arrive within days.

Officials say the entire operation will last at least a week.

For now, unaccompanied minors will be allowed to remain in Calais, where they will be taken to a series of shipping containers equipped with bunk beds within a secure area of the camp.

In a statement to MPs, Ms Rudd defended the UK Government’s actions saying that the French had let her staff into the camp to begin the process of interviewing children only last week .

Since then the Home Office had spoken to more than 800 children, she said.

Labour’s Diane Abbott warned that the last time there was an eviction process in Calais more than 100 children went missing. She accused the Home Secretary of trying to “hide behind the French”. She also urged ministers to remember that everyone camped in Calais “is a human being”. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Shas Sheehan criticised the French authorities for failing to prioritise children, saying their actions were “too little, too late”.

A political row erupted last week after concerns were raised the children arriving were older than they claimed. One Conservative MP David Davies demanded that their teeth be examined as a test of their age, a suggestion condemned as barbaric by charities.