Hundreds of migrants have been cleared from a warehouse in France where they had been living in "degrading and dangerous" conditions. Authorities in Calais evacuated the makeshift camp on Tuesday, September 30, in an operation they said took place "calmly and without incident". Around 600 people had been living in the shelter, nicknamed 'Cheers' since it was first occupied a year ago. They withstood "degrading and dangerous" conditions and lived in close quarters to each other "amid piles of waste", Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

French agencies initially visited the site in September to offer its residents alternate accommodation in regional reception areas, with 170 taking up the offer. Migrants have been known to gather along the coast of northern France in the hopes of crossing the English Channel to the UK, with over 30,000 thought to have made the perilous journey this year.

The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said the warehouse had become "a hub for smuggling networks exploiting the vulnerability of migrants".

Following the evacuation, its owners sealed off access and boulders will be installed to prevent reoccupation, authorities said.

Police clearance of migrant camps in the region is a commonplace occurrence but has come under fire from aid groups who suggest the practice facilitates even more displacement.

It comes amid the UK government's continuing effort to combat the immigration crisis through a returns deal with France which saw two asylum seekers removed last month.

The agreement involves France taking back migrants who had travelled to the UK in small boats and had their asylum claims withdrawn or designated inadmissable. Meanwhile, the UK accepts someone in return who has a legitimate case for protection and has taken a legal route to safety.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said the deal serves as an "immediate deterrent" and pledged to ensure the number of deportations of small boat migrants "[grows] over the coming months and years".

Speaking to broadcasters, he said: "The pilot with France is a milestone because it sends an immediate deterrent to people, many of them coming obviously across the water, that we will send them back, and it is our hope to see that grow over the coming months and years. We have to bear down on the gangs and we have to smash the model effectively and we have to ensure that those who do not have a right to be here are sent back to the countries from which they are from."