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France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader urging him to back the plan and stating there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.

French security forces have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to official statements.

French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.

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

Now, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible method to snarl the engines of the boats.

The decision to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister left office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.

Now French officials will again be allowed to stop boats before they pick up migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.

Powerful gusts are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the past.

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

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