French authorities will start stopping migrant vessels in English Channel following British demands

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

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

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

French police have rarely acted to stop the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and civilians.

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

Currently, a French naval police representative states personnel will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.

Notably, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the boats.

This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.

That was highlighted in the summer month, preceding a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.

Now French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.

Powerful gusts are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking ways to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.

UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.

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