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France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.

The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to support the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French security forces have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.

French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.

"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."

Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.

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

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

This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.

Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they pick up migrant individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.

Strong winds are currently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.

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

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