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French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader urging him to back the plan and stating there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.

French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.

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

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

Currently, a French naval police representative states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.

Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible method to disable the engines of the vessels.

This determination to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.

This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.

Now French authorities will again be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.

Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.

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

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