Inspectors will be staging a week-long blitz on construction sites across Sussex next month.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) initiative aims to reduce the toll of deaths, injuries and ill-health on building projects in the region.

The death of student Simon Jones in 1998 on his first day working at Shoreham harbour was investigated by the HSE.

Although not working on a building site, the Sussex University undergraduate died when his head was crushed in a mechanical grab.

Euromin Ltd and director Richard Martell were cleared of manslaughter but the firm was fined £50,000 for serious breaches of health and safety.

Philip Poynter, the HSE's principal inspector for construction, said: "The incidents of fatal and serious injuries caused by mobile plant, vehicles and lifting operations appears greater in the East and South-East than in other parts of the UK."

Philip White, HSE construction division regional head of operations added: "We will seek to identify poor standards and may take formal action, including prosecution, where the law is flouted and people put at risk."