French authorities will start stopping small boats in English Channel after British demands

French officials have consented to start intercepting migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.

The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.

French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative statements.

French authorities have infrequently acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both personnel and individuals.

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

Now, a French maritime police representative states officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.

Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.

The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the previous government official departed from office.

This was demonstrated in July, preceding a summit between the UK leader and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.

Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.

Powerful gusts are currently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.

UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.

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