British fishing boats hoping to dock in France have had a reprieve after the threat of blocking them from ports was floated.

French President Emmanuel Macron had warned that they could be prevented from landing their catches in French ports from midnight on Tuesday.

But this evening he said that instead talks would continue.

The dispute is about licences to fish in British waters following Brexit.

While the UK was in the EU, French boats had easier access to fish in British waters.

Now, Mr Macron claims the UK authorities are refusing to grant licences to French boats, and has threatened retaliation.

The argument centres around smaller fishing boats, which are having a harder time demonstrating that they qualify for the licence.

Only boats which can demonstrate they have fished in UK waters for at least one day in each of the years between 2012 and 2016 can get one.

Larger trawlers can prove this more easily as they collect data automatically from things like Automatic Identification Systems.

Mr Macron had previously said that as well as the port ban, customs checks could be made stricter from tomorrow.

A UK Government spokesperson said: ‘We welcome the French Government’s announcement that they will not go ahead with implementing their proposed measures as planned tomorrow.

‘The UK has set out its position clearly on these measures in recent days.

‘As we have said consistently, we are ready to continue intensive discussions on fisheries, including considering any new evidence to support the remaining license applications.

‘We welcome France’s acknowledgement that in-depth discussions are needed to resolve the range of difficulties in the UK/EU relationship.’

Hours ahead of the deadline set by Paris tonight, the French president was reported to have told journalists at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow: ‘Since this afternoon, discussions have resumed on the basis of a proposal I made to prime minister (Boris) Johnson.

‘The talks need to continue.

‘My understanding is that the British were going to come back to us tomorrow with other proposals.

‘All that will be worked on.

‘We’ll see where we are tomorrow at the end of the day, to see if things have really changed,’ he is reported to have said.

‘My wish is that we can find a way out on all these issues.’

Mr Macron and Mr Johnson met briefly as the French president arrived in Glasgow.

And officials from the two nations were involved in talks convened by the European Commission in Brussels.

Earlier, Downing Street said it had ‘robust’ contingency plans in place if Mr Macron’s government carried out threats to disrupt trade from midnight.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK would take legal action under the UK-EU Brexit trade deal, and a tit-for-tat retaliation to French action had not been ruled out.

The UK has granted licences to 98% of EU vessels which have requested permission to operate in British waters.

But the dispute centres on access for small boats, under 12 metres, wishing to fish in the UK six to 12 nautical mile zone.

The government in Paris was angry that the UK originally granted only 12 licences out of 47 bids for smaller vessels, a figure which has now risen to 18.

Jersey, which has also been threatened with action by France, has issued 49 temporary licences and 113 permanent licences to French vessels.

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