France will start stopping small boats in Channel after British demands

French officials have consented to begin intercepting small boats in the Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift follows the British leader sent a letter to the French leader urging him to support the plan and stating there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.

French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.

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

Now, a French naval police spokesperson states personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.

The decision to take action at all is a significant step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister left office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.

Currently French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.

Strong winds are presently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

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

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