France will start stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure

France has agreed to begin intercepting small boats in the Channel, following an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to support the plan and stating there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.

French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.

French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both officers and civilians.

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

Currently, a French maritime police representative states personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Significantly, the official excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to disable the propellers of the boats.

The decision to take action at all is a major step forward, following a brief shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased 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 President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.

Now French authorities will again 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 small boats will be prevented.

Strong winds are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

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