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France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.

The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.

French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.

French authorities have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as 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."

Now, a French maritime police representative says personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.

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

The decision to take action at all is a significant step forward, following a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous government official left government.

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

Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up migrant passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.

Strong winds are presently delaying the start of interceptions and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for ways to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.

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