Protesters gathered outside Southwark Crown Court as the case against a company director accused of causing the Battersea crane disaster faced further delay.

A group of angry campaigners branded the handling of the case "outrageous", with the trial date set for September 5 next year at the same court.

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.

Douglas Genge, of Falcon Crane Hire, appeared for a hearing on May 27, charged with employer breach of general duty after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) alleged failings in relation to overloading the crane and maintenance.

John McClean, GMB national health and safety officer, said: "It is an outrage that there will be a 10 years delay for trial to take place for the company and the director for these deaths due to a crane collapse.

"Faulty crane maintenance caused these deaths.

"The Notification of Conventional Tower Crane Regulations 2010, introduced after a Battersea-led campaign to prevent further crane deaths, which set out the duty to notify the use of conventional tower cranes on construction sites to HSE, have since been revoked as 'red tape'.

"Employer pressure led to these regulations being revoked and the associated register closed down, so from April 2013 there is no longer a duty to notify tower cranes on construction sites to HSE.

"The long interval between the deaths and the court case and the revoking of regulations on crane collapses 'as red tape' provide a clear example of how little human life is valued."

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.

Mr Alexa's body was left at the scene for three days after the incident as the authorities struggled to remove wreckage.

The inquest into the death of both Mr Alexa and Mr Cloke did not take place until March 2012 - nearly six years after the incident.

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."