A cargo unloading company has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a Banbury student who died three years ago.

Simon Jones, who was 24, died from multiple injuries after being struck by a grab crane while working in the hold of a ship in Shoreham, Sussex, docks. He was taking a year out from Sussex University.

Mr Jones' parents, Christopher and Ann, of Timms Road, Banbury, have fought a long campaign to bring the case to court.

On Monday at the Old Bailey in London, Dutch-owned firm Euromin Ltd, of Battersea Bridge Road, London, pleaded not guilty to one charge of manslaughter and six other counts of failing to comply with the Health and Safety Act. Company manager Richard Martell, of Chichester, Sussex, who was in charge of the unloading operation at Shoreham on April 24, 1998, the date of the tragedy, denied manslaughter.

The trial was fixed for November 5, and is expected to last three to four weeks.

The Crown Prosecution Service had advised against going to court because of previous difficulties with corporate manslaughter cases.

After a campaign by Mr and Mrs Jones, the High Court over-ruled the CPS and ordered a full trial.