Family of man who drowned trying to save dog hope to help prevent further tragedy
Video report by ITV News Meridian's Malcolm Shaw
The family of a man who drowned in Sussex as he tried to rescue his dog are calling for action to prevent a similar tragedy.
Gareth Jones, who was 69, was swept out to sea in January this year off the coast of Hove.
His son says shingle on the beach had formed a steep shelf and wants others to be made aware of the danger.
Robbie Jones said: "We came down here as a family about a week after the tragic accident and we were immediately struck by the shelf of the pebbles and the shingle and the sheer drop of the shelf.
"We then had a look around to see if there was any appropriate warning about this, that Gareth may not have noticed about this, and we couldn't see any particular warnings."
Similar to other beaches along the south coast, Hove has groynes projecting at right angles out into the sea.
They act as barriers to trap sand and pebbles which would otherwise be carried away by what is called longshore drift.
Groynes reduce the rate of coastal erosion, and also raise the height of the beach.
Each spring, the Brighton and Hove Council moves thousands of tonnes of pebbles to restore the beach for the summer, but no such work had taken place at the time of Mr Jones's death.
The council says deep shelving and sudden steep drops are 'naturally occurring features of shingle beaches' and that the 'profile of the stones at the time would have been the result of those coastal processes'.
It is currently reviewing the beach safety signage to see if it can be improved in any way.
One local councillor believes there needs to be a more detailed study of the way this coastline is managed.Cllr Robert Nemeth said: "The way in which the pebbles are dumped at the top is very much linked to a man-made process. And underpinning that is the position of the groynes.
"So I think these are all the things that I think a responsible council and councillor for the area, such as myself, would want to investigate, just to ensure that such a tragedy doesn't play out again in the same way."
A coroner concluded that the death of Gareth Jones was a tragic accident, but his family are determined to do all they can to prevent anyone else dying in similar circumstances.