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French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.

This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "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 acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both officers and civilians.

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

Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to disable the engines of the vessels.

This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, following a brief change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from government.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting 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 allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, 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 seeking ways to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

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

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