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

This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to support the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French maritime police have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to official confirmation.

French police have infrequently intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and civilians.

"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."

Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.

Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.

This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a stricter approach this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister left office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.

Now French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels 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 evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.

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

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