French authorities will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel after British demands

France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift comes after the British leader wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.

French police have infrequently intervened to stop the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.

"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."

Now, a French naval police representative states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.

Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential method to disable the engines of the vessels.

The decision to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the former government official left office.

That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and President, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.

Now French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.

Strong winds are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking ways to adjust to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the past.

UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.

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