The French family of a man who died after being run over by a street-cleaning vehicle is demanding a public inquiry.

Jean-Claude and Josiane Aineto have written to Brighton and Hove City Council, calling for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of their son.

Stephane Aineto, 28, of Upper Lewes Road, was fatally injured after a night out with friends in Brighton on July 29 last year.

He was walking towards a taxi rank when he was run over in East Street by a seven-and-a-half tonne truck operated by Sita. He died at the scene.

It is believed Stephane, who worked as a kitchen porter at Brighton College, may have stumbled and fallen under a rear wheel.

A subsequent police investigation concluded his death was an accident and no action was taken against the driver of the vehicle, who was said to be devastated.

But Stephane's parents, who live in Toulouse, believe the breakdown in the management of refuse collection in the city at the time of the accident contributed to their son's death.

In his letter to the council Mr Aineto wrote: "We believe the chaotic situation of the refuse service was a major contributing factor in the death of Stephane.

"Sita had been sacked and said publicly it was, at that time, unable to impose rule on the refuse workers and that there was no contract management any more with the workforce."

He referred to comments made by union representatives following the accident that concerns about the safety of the street-cleaning vehicle had been raised two years earlier.

In August, Tony Wilson, GMB union health and safety representative at Sita, told The Argus he had questioned the vehicle's design in 1999 and had warned there would be an accident.

Mr Aineto said: "In the aftermath of the accident, other basic health and safety investigations and reports also appear to have been mishandled and neglected. We ask for a public inquiry to investigate these concerns."

A council spokeswoman said no further action was deemed necessary as investigations by both the police and Sita concluded the incident was a road traffic accident.

She said: "The Health and Safety Executive was advised of all the details and took full reports from Sita, the police and the council and did not ask for any further investigation."

She said chief executive David Panter had not yet received a letter from the Aineto family so was unable to make a formal response.

The council took the refuse collection service in-house in October last year after years of complaints about the service provided by private contractor Sita.

A Sita spokeswoman denied the company had been warned about safety concerns in 1999. She said: "We were unaware any suggestion of that sort had been made. "However, lessons have been learnt from the incident, which we have taken on board."