Paris is to open its first refugee camp next month in response to asylum seekers living in the city's streets, BBC News said.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo said a camp to house 400 men would be opened at a site in the north of the city in mid-October.

A camp for women and children, in the suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine, will follow by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, a planned centre for 200 asylum seekers in Essonne, 30km (20 miles) south-west of Paris, was set on fire overnight, investigators say.

Makeshift camps have appeared in public areas and streets in Paris, before being cleared by police.

Hundreds of people were dispersed in the city hours before the latest announcement.

The two camps will cost an estimated 6.5m euros ($7.3m). They will provide shelter and medical care for asylum seekers for five to ten days.

The planned centre in Essonne, at Forges-les-Bains, was due to take in 90 people in October.

A meeting on Monday, September 4 evening to discuss it was attended by protesters, according to French media, but dispersed late in the evening. The fire was reported to the authorities at about 02:30 (00:30 GMT).

French police are expected to launch an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

Hidalgo said the fire was "a disgrace".

Calls have mounted to close the migrant camp in Calais in the north of France, near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. Protesters caused severe disruption earlier this week as they blockaded roads near the port town, demanding the closure of the "Jungle" camp.

Hundreds formed a human chain, joined by farmers and local businesspeople. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, who was among the protesters, said things were "becoming unbearable and something needs to be done".

About 7,000 migrants now live in the "Jungle", often in squalor, as many attempt to reach Britain in lorries crossing the Channel. In August, the authorities in France and the UK agreed to increase security and humanitarian aid in Calais, and further secure the Channel Tunnel.