Demolition work has kicked off on the third day of the operation to rid Calais of its Jungle camp.
Several small diggers crushed the makeshift homes that until recently sheltered migrants and refugees, before loading the debris into a large red skip.
Workers could be seen preparing to use a chainsaw to break up the wooden pallets, plastic and fabric a little before 9am.
Dozens of police vans lined the perimeter of the camp while armed officers patrolled the site.
Shoes, cooking utensils and other former belongings lay scattered on the ground as the diggers set to work.
On Tuesday, 1,636 people, including 372 minors, passed through the registration centre on the edge of the sprawling camp, taking the total so far to more than 4,000.
Reports emerged of young migrants believed to be minors being turned away from the warehouse by police. Several were seen desperately asking journalists and aid workers for information.
Charities criticised the decision to proceed with demolition while there were still children unaccounted for in the camp, with Save the Children and Unicef calling it "unacceptable".
Elsewhere in the camp, the charred remains of what were once shops and restaurants providing residents with chai tea and naan bread flanked the once-bustling main thoroughfare.
Help Refugees charity reported that the overnight fires had destroyed safe spaces for children, meaning 40 unaccompanied minors were forced to sleep in a mosque.
The fires also destroyed a bus for women and children and makeshift youth centre, the charity added.
Yesterday, its volunteers delivered more than one hundred sleeping bags for children who were still in the camp.