French authorities will start stopping small boats in Channel following British demands

France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.

The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to support the plan and saying there presently "have no effective preventive measure" 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 statements.

French police have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.

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

Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.

Notably, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible method to snarl the engines of the boats.

This determination to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.

That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.

Currently French officials will again be permitted to stop boats before they pick up migrant individuals from the beaches of northern France, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.

Strong winds are presently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for response.

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