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France has agreed to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.

The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.

French security forces have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation.

French police have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.

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

Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.

Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible method to disable the propellers of the boats.

The decision to take action at all is a major step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister left office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.

Now French authorities will again be permitted to stop boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.

Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.

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

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• Reasons UK cannot just return asylum seekers to French territory
• France withdrawing from commitment to intercept asylum boats