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

The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the French leader urging him to support the plan and saying there presently "have no 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 police have rarely intervened to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and individuals.

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

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

Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.

This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a stricter approach this warmer season, which ceased when the previous government official departed from government.

That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.

Now French authorities will again be permitted to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.

Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.

UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for response.

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