IAIN Duncan Smith has demanded improved safety at train stations on the two year anniversary of the death of a man in a freak platform accident.

Simon Slade, 33, of Waltham Road, Woodford Bridge, was killed after falling between a train and a station platform at Gidea Park, station, near Romford, on January 11 2007.

The forensic scientist, who had been brought up in Walthamstow, had consumed six beers earlier in the evening, although his family said he was not drunk, and he ran alongside his friends' train as it pulled away, but lost his footing.

The tragic death prompted Mr Slade's family to launch a campaign, called Mind That Gap, demanding a tightening of safety regulations at train stations.

Chingford MP Duncan Smith is backing the campaign and spoke in Parliamant on Tuesday about what he describes as a "catalogue of errors" that led to Mr Slade's death.

Mr Duncan Smith said British Transport Police had got their cases mixed up and had mistakenly thought Mr Slade had been trespassing further up the line.

He questioned why the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) did not launch an investigation into the accident, why the train dispatcher did not stop on the platform to watch the train leave, and why no risk assessment was made about the gap at Gidea Park, which Mr Duncan Smith says exceeded guidelines.

Mr Duncan Smith said: "The reality is more must be done by rail operating companies to avoid fatalities and injuries sustained by commuters, 29 people were injured in 2008 alone.

"Basic changes such as increasing the number of staff on platforms, making cursory checks of the platform, better signage, a mechanism to reduce the gaos and delivering an audible warning of the imminent movement of a train could prevent accidents."

Mrs Slade, of Hillcrest Road, Walthamstow, has described her son's death as the "most awful thing you could ever in your life imagine happening".

She said: "We have got to make a change."

RAIB has said it is not conducting an investigation becuase it is only required to investigate serious accidents that have an impact on railway safety, regulation or management.

An inquest ruled Mr Slade's death was an accident and The Office of Rail Regulation said the gap at Gidea Park meets safety requirements.