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France has agreed to begin intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.

The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to support the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.

French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.

French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.

"It is crucial that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."

Now, a French maritime police representative states personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.

Significantly, the official ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible method to disable the propellers of the boats.

The decision to take action at all is a major step forward, following a brief change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.

Currently French officials will again be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.

Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.

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