A parachute club may not have had permission for skydivers to land in the Australian field where Clare Barnes plunged to her death.

Clare, the 24-year-old daughter of Europe minister Denis MacShane and newscaster Carol Barnes, who lives at Brighton Marina, died last month near the south-eastern city of Melbourne when her parachute failed to open on her 200th jump.

City council officials for the area, in Victoria state, are investigating whether the Skydive City club applied for a permit for parachutists to land in the privately-owned field where Clare died.

The council said it might take the club's owner, Luke McWilliam, to court over the matter.

The council said: "If we can ascertain that he (McWilliam) has operated without a permit, then enforcement action will be taken either through the courts or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal."

McWilliam was not immediately available for comment.

In an unrelated case, the national Civil Aviation Safety Authority is prosecuting McWilliam over 21 possible safety breaches.

Twenty involve jumping through clouds, while the other is related to operating an aircraft, said the authority's spokesman, Peter Gibson.

A court hearing into the case is scheduled for May 14.

Clare died on March 14 after her emergency chute became tangled and the main parachute wrapped around her body.