French authorities will start intercepting small boats in Channel following UK pressure

French officials have consented to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, following an extended period of pressure from the UK.

The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President urging him to support the initiative and stating there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.

French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.

French authorities have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.

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

Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the boats.

The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a brief change towards a more aggressive approach this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.

That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.

Currently French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.

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

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

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