The end of the gold rush: Amazing pictures show police destroying an entire TOWN including grocery stores and a nightclub that had sprung up to support illegal miners in the Peruvian rainforest

• Peruvian government has launched a massive crackdown against the 55 illegal mining settlements in the country
• The destruction of the La Pampa settlement, in the southeastern Madre de Dios region, made hundreds homeless
• Food shops, brothels and tarpaulin nightclubs had been set up to service the mine workers and their families
• Illegal mining is one of the leading causes of deforestation in Peru, which is more than 60 per cent rainforest 

By IMOGEN CALDERWOOD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:54 GMT, 25 July 2015 | UPDATED: 16:10 GMT, 25 July 2015