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France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President urging him to back the plan and stating there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.

French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to official confirmation.

French authorities have infrequently acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the shoreline because it is considered too great a danger to both personnel and individuals.

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

Now, a French maritime police representative says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.

Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible technique to disable the engines of the boats.

The decision to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter approach this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a boat.

Now French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.

Strong winds are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to avoid detection, 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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