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French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.

The change in policy follows the British leader sent a letter to the President urging him to back the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" 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 authoritative statements.

French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered too great a risk to both officers and civilians.

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

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

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

This determination to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived change towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.

That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.

Now French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.

Strong winds are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.

The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for comment.

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