A council and a water company could be charged with corporate manslaughter after a motorcyclist skidded and crashed on a recently-resurfaced road.

Sussex Police believe West Sussex County Council and Southern Water should answer for the death of 52-year-old Graham Jordon on the B2139 Duke's Hill at Thakeham, near Storrington.

Mr Jordon's bike, travelling south, collided head-on with a car coming the other way round a right-hand bend on August 29, 2002.

Police have completed an investigation into the accident and handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which will consider whether to charge the organisations or any individuals.

There have only been three successful prosecutions before for corporate manslaughter, despite many attempts.

The Government has pledged since 1997 to bring in a new offence of corporate killing, making it easier to prosecute companies for fatalities, but has been criticised for delays.

Trade unions have stepped up their campaign for change after last week's dropping of manslaughter and health and safety charges against Railtrack and three of its executives over the Hatfield rail crash.

At the moment, firms can be found guilty of man-slaughter only if at least one person named as the "guiding mind" in an organisation is convicted.

Activists believe this often enables large bodies to escape blame and legal sanction, which would most likely be fines or directorship bans.

The Home Office has said it will publish a draft Bill by the end of November, though it will not necessarily be included in the Queen's Speech.

Inspector Simon Labbett, who is leading the investigation into Mr Jordon's death, hopes the CPS will decide someone should face trial over the accident.

The road had to be resurfaced in late 2001 after Southern Water replaced water mains in the area. Investigators were baffled by what could have caused Mr Jordon's accident, finding nothing wrong with his driving nor that of the 48-year-old Renault driver involved.

Mr Labbett, of the Hove road policing unit, said: "This has been a substantial investigation and there are a number of issues we have been considering.

"I have completed a report for the coroner to now consider and I am hopeful of discussing this in the next few weeks to enable an inquest date to be set.

"While it would not be prudent to discuss the case prior to any hearing, there are a number of issues the coroner may wish to make comment on that have resulted from the investigation.

"These are likely to have national implications."

Mr Labbett is due to meet West Sussex coroner Roger Stone this week to discuss the case and expects an inquest to be held soon.

He added: "It's up to the CPS to make decisions on whether to pursue corporate manslaughter charges and who those might apply to.

"The county council has a duty to maintain the highway while the utility has responsibility for undertaking the works in the first place.

"But I imagine we would look at individuals within an organisation first."

Mr Jordon lived in Oxted, Surrey, with wife Pamela and two daughters.

Mr Labbett said the family was being kept fully updated."

A county council spokeswoman said contractors had been asked to carry out "remedial work" on the road two days after the accident to prevent any repeats.

That work was paid for by Southern Water.

The spokeswoman added: "The police carried out an investigation that involved not only the county council but also the utility that had been working on the road and the utility's contractor.

"We are waiting for a decision from the coroner's office as to whether or not there will be an inquest."

A Southern Water spokeswoman said: "Southern Water contractors reinstated the road following a water main replacement scheme.

"This work was carried out in October and November 2001 and was monitored by West Sussex County Council.

"Since the incident in August 2002, Southern Water has fully co-operated with the police investigation and will continue to do so until the matter has been resolved."

New Government figures have revealed Sussex roads are among the worst-maintained in the country.

Sussex has 2,501km of roads in need of structural repair - 32 per cent of the highways network.

The county figures exclude Brighton and Hove, where just 14 per cent - 86km - are structurally damaged.

Nationally there are 59 million kilometres of damaged roads, 21 per cent of the total.