Relatives of a Frenchman killed by a council refuse truck in Brighton have won the right to challenge his inquest verdict.

Stephane Aineto, 28, of Upper Lewes Road, died when he was struck by a refuse truck in East Street in July 2001.

He was walking in a pedestrian area in the early hours when he was run over by the seven-and-a-half tonne Sita lorry.

His relatives have been fighting to change a coroner's verdict that his death was accidental.

They have already secured a judicial review into the incident and now the Solicitor General, Harriet Harman, has given her permission for a second legal challenge.

The two hearings will be held together.

Mr Aineto's sister Sandrine said she was delighted the High Court would now be able to make a full inquiry into the adequacy of the inquest and consider new evidence.

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council, which contracted Sita's service at the time of the incident, declined to comment.

At the inquest in December 2001, Brighton and Hove coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded a verdict of accidental death.

The family's solicitor, John Harford, said the incident should have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and a jury should therefore have been called for the inquest.

He said legal documents given on the day of the hearing to the family, who are from Toulouse, had not been translated into French.