The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) said safety aspects of bungee jumping should be thoroughly examined following a fatal accident over the weekend.

Trainee teacher Christopher Thomas, 22, died of head injuries after he fell from a 180ft-high crane during a charity fundraising day in Swansea on Bank Holiday Monday.

At the moment bungee jumping is treated the same as travelling fairground rides

Peter Cornall of Rospa

As police continue to investigate Mr Thomas' death, officers believe his safety harness may have snapped.

On Wednesday, Rospa's head of leisure safety Peter Cornall called for a safety review of bungee jumping - a pastime which remains essentially unregulated.

"At the moment bungee jumping is treated the same as travelling fairground rides," he said.

"When you step on a ride you have no idea of the safety of the operation and the health and safety onus is on the operator - it's the same for bungee jumping."

Mr Cornall said lessons needed to be learned from Mr Thomas' death and called for a full safety review.

"Obviously people do not expect to die when they do a bungee jump," he said.

"But we should hang fire before bringing in any new legislation to ensure that it is necessary.

The event was organised to raise funds

"This is only the second fatality from bungee jumping in Britain. We need to look at how many near misses there have been and how many other injuries."

Meanwhile, the British Elastic Rope Sports Association (Bersa) , which affiliates bungee jumping companies but has no legal responsibility, said it wants its code of practice ratified.

Bersa director David Boston explained that jump providers can sign up to his governing body's safety checklist but have no obligation to join as members.

The company wants to express their sympathy and condolences to the family of Mr Thomas

Freefall Bungee Wales solicitor

Eyewitnesses said Mr Thomas, originally from Kidwelly in west Wales, appeared nervous before his jump but later appeared to pluck up enough courage.

He was in Swansea helping to organise the event to raise money for Morriston Hospital and was a late additional to the list of jumpers. About 10 people had jumped before him.

Hundreds of onlookers watched in disbelief as he bounced once, rose then fell to the ground in the car park of the Old Barn Inn and Restaurant at Mynydd Gelliwastad.

Members of his family had been filming his jump on a camcorder.

He died from head injuries at the same unit for which he was raising money.

Company's sympathy

A solicitor for Freefall Bungee Wales - who were running the jumps in Swansea - issued a statement on Tuesday.

It said: "The company wants to express their sympathy and condolences to the family of Mr Thomas.

"Unfortunately, at present, the company are unable to give any information about the circumstances of the tragic accident.

"But the police and the Health and Safety executive are carrying out extensive investigations which are receiving the full cooperation of the company."