Children in the Calais "Jungle" are risking their lives every night in attempts to reach the UK, Britain's anti-slavery commissioner has warned.

Kevin Hyland is calling on ministers to step up efforts to address the plight of lone children in the camp, suggesting that youngsters are turning to smuggling gangs amid frustration at official routes for claiming asylum or joining relatives who are already in the UK.

In a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, he painted a stark picture of the threats faced by children and other vulnerable individuals living in migrant camps such as the Jungle.

Mr Hyland's recommendations are:

Mr Hyland concludes that frustration with, and lack of confidence in, regulations known as the Dublin III procedures "is one of the key motivators behind risk-taking behaviour, which leads to higher exposure to modern slavery and exploitation".

Under Dublin III, asylum claims must be made in the first safe country a person reaches - but children can have their claim transferred to another country if they have family members living there.

Campaigners have repeatedly called for the process to be sped up so an estimated 185 children believed to be eligible for humanitarian protection in the UK can be transferred from Calais.

The issue came under fresh scrutiny at the weekend after Raheemullah Oryakhel, a teenage Afghan boy who is said to have had a legal right to travel to Britain, died as he tried to climb on to a lorry's roof near Calais.

Unicef UK said relatives of the teenager had a room in their home prepared for him and said his death was the result of a "lack of action".

In his letter, Mr Hyland commended the work of the British and French governments to secure borders and tackle smuggling networks - but added that not enough is being done to "address the vulnerabilities of migrants, in particular unaccompanied children".

Mr Hyland said he received a "clear message" that there is "very little confidence in asylum seeking procedures in France", as well as the Dublin III regulations.

Some people had already applied for asylum in France or family reunification under Dublin III, but "every night they were continuously trying to cross the Channel illegally".

The letter said: "The waiting time was simply far too long for them. Unfortunately, migrants had more trust in smugglers than in state led procedures that exist to ensure their protection."

In August there were 865 children living in the "Jungle", 676 of who were unaccompanied.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "Our priority is to offer humanitarian support to those most in need and we work closely with the French Government to protect those vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation...

"Over 120 cases of unaccompanied children in Europe have been accepted for transfer to the UK under the Dublin Regulation since the start of the year and we want to build on this progress."