France has detained a British trawler and given a verbal warning to another fishing boat in waters off its coast, the French government has said

French maritime minister Annick Girardin said it is “not war but this is a combat”, amid a warning the country could ban allowing British fishing boats to disembark at French ports if tensions are not resolved.

Clement Beaune, France’s Europe minister, said on CNews TV: “I stand by the fact we pursued dialogue until now, we got half of the fishing licences today, but that’s not enough and not acceptable.

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“So now, we need to speak the language of strength since that seems to be the only thing this British government understands.”

It is the latest twist in an increasingly bitter dispute between Britain and France over fishing rights.

France says its fishermen have not been issued with half the licences they are entitled to allowing them to fish in British waters under the terms of the Brexit agreement.

France protested against the decision last month by the UK and the Channel Island of Jersey to refuse dozens of French fishing boats licences to operate in their territorial waters.

The country considers these restrictions contrary to the post-Brexit agreement the UK signed when it left the EU.

In a tweet, the French Maritime Ministry said: “This Wednesday, two English ships were fined during classic checks off Le Havre.

“The first did not comply spontaneously: verbalization.

“The second did not have a licence to fish in our waters: diverted to the quay and handed over to the judicial authority.”

France could now adopt a zero-tolerance attitude toward Britain and block access to virtually all its boats until the licenses have been awarded.

However, Mr Girardin said it is “not serious” to suggest the country could off electricity to the UK.

It comes after government spokesman Gabriel Attal earlier highlighted that France’s supply of electricity to Britain could be one of the measures that could come into effect if “there is no change in policy”.

However, the British government said it has issued fishing licences to vessels that have been able to demonstrate a track record of operating in its waters in the years running up to last year’s withdrawal from the EU.