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France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the French leader urging him to back the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.

French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to official confirmation.

French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.

"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."

Now, a French maritime police representative says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.

Notably, the official ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential technique to disable the engines of the vessels.

This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this warmer season, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.

That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.

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

Powerful gusts are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking ways to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.

Connected Developments

• Reasons Britain cannot just return migrants to French territory
• French government backing away from commitment to intercept asylum boats