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French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.

The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to support the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.

French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.

French police have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.

"It is crucial that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."

Now, a French naval police representative says officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.

Notably, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to snarl 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 previous government official departed from office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.

Currently French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats before they collect migrant individuals from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.

Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the past.

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

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