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French officials have consented to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of insistence from the UK.

The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to support the plan and stating there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.

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

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

Now, a French maritime police spokesperson states officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.

This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, following a brief shift towards a stricter approach this warmer season, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.

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

Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to stop boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.

Strong winds are currently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.

The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for response.

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