Six years ago, Simon Jones was killed in an horrific dockland accident but the pain of his loss has not dimmed.

On the anniversary of his death, relatives and friends placed a wreath in the sea near where he died.

The memorial service marked the moment when 24-year-old Simon suffered fatal head injuries when he was hit by a mechanical grab while working in the hold of a ship at Shoreham Harbour.

Brighton Kemptown MP Dr Des Turner joined Simon's tearful mother Anne and other safety at work campaigners for the service, near Shoreham lighthouse.

Simon, a Sussex University student, was working through a gap year when, in April 1998, he was taken on by Dutch-registered firm Euromin through an employment agency.

After his death, both the company and director Richard Martell were cleared of manslaughter but the Old Bailey fined the firm £50,000 for serious health and safety breaches.

Rachael Webb, secretary of Sussex Transport and General Workers' Union, said unions must increase their memberships to stop employers cutting corners on safety and to protect people like Mr Jones.

She said: "The memorial was to make something positive out of a tragedy.

"At the time Simon died, he was doing the work of a registered dock worker but did not have the protection of an effective union."

She said Mr Turner had backed a parliamentary Bill to have the law changed so employers could faces harsher penalties if someone died as a result of poor safety practices.

In March, Mrs Jones gave evidence to a parliamentary select committee inquiring about the work of the Health and Safety Executive.

She said: "One of the things we are trying hard to achieve is to get more health and safety inspectors on the ground. The Government has already cut funding to the executive and was trying to move away from enforcement to just providing advice and education.

"If the inspectors move away from enforcement and investigation there will be no one investigating. This would be a terrible thing to happen."

Mrs Jones said there were only 25 inspectors in the UK who worked at ports and none was dedicated to docks.

She said: "There are people being killed in the workplace because systems of management are not put in place because it would shave profits.

"In Simon's case, he could have been saved if £20 was spent on labour to change the grab to one that was safer for the job being done."