A mother whose son was killed in a crane collapse in Battersea has spoken of her agonising wait for justice after a trial date was set for 10 years after the tragedy occurred.

Michael Alexa, 23, and Jonathan Cloke, 37, both died when a crane collapsed at a Barratt Homes development in Thessaly Road on September 26, 2006.

Mr Cloke was in the driving cab of the crane when it collapsed and Mr Alexa was cleaning his car in the street below at the time.

The trial date has finally been set for September 5, 2016, at Southwark Crown Court, a decade on from the tragedy, which Mr Alexa’s mother, Liliana, branded “disgusting”.

She said: “Of course I was angry when I heard about it, we tried to do a petition to move the date to a little bit earlier – it is absolutely disgusting but what can you do?

“It is very hard, it is really hard. It [the trial] is not going to give us any closure, we miss him so much all the time.

“We still wait for him to come home and come through the door, it is really bad – we will keep fighting to the end.”

The body of Mrs Alexa’s son was left under the wreckage for three days as the authorities struggled to remove the broken crane.

Falcon Crane Hire and its managing director, Douglas Genge, were charged with employer breach of general duty after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) alleged failings in relation to overloading the crane and maintenance.

A first appearance took place at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 25, but the crown court trial will not be heard until next year.

John McClean, GMB national health and safety officer, said: “A delay of 10 long years is an outrage and completely unacceptable.

“Delayed justice is not only harrowing for the families and friends of the victims, but should not be happening in a country with a mature, democratic legal system and may be the result of cutbacks in Ministry of Justice (MoJ) budgets.”

A directions hearing took place at Southwark Crown Court last month and Mr Genge will next appear for a plea and case management hearing at the same court on May 27.

Mr McClean added: “In a recent consultation from the MoJ on sentencing guidelines for corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food hygiene offences, GMB stressed justice in these crimes should take place more quickly so families of victims can have closure.”

The inquest into the death of Mr Alexa and Mr Cloke did not take place until March 2012 –  nearly six years later.

The jury rejected an option of delivering a verdict of accidental death and chose to deliver a narrative verdict, which was read out in court.

It said: “Both men died as a result of a crane collapse due to failure of the inner slew ring bolts due to overloading of the counterweight.”

A spokesman for the HSE said as the case has yet to conclude, they could not comment further.