Pulling the handbrake on the Glasgow bin lorry which crashing killing six people could have caused more casualties, a collision expert told the inquiry this morning.

Giving evidence, collision investigation expert Mark Hill said applying the handbrake may have resulted in ‘significantly’ more casualties as lorry would have remained on pavement.

He added that use of the handbrake would have been ‘pretty extreme’.

Questioned later by Mark Stewart QC, who represents the families of Dumbarton victims Jack Sweeney, 68, his wife Lorraine, 69, and their 18-year-old granddaughter Erin McQuade, Mr Hill agreed that had the crew used the parking brake the lorry could have been stopped by St Vincent Place.

Mr Hill’s report on the crash shows the lorry was travelling at up to 25.9 mph during the tragic accident and he told the inquiry pedestrians would have had very little time to react as it gained speed.

He said the crew members would likely have reverted to ‘innate self-preservation’ and would have had about ’five seconds’ to react.

Mr Hill agreed that crew member Matthew Telford’s reaction during the incident was the normal one - trying to rouse the driver.

He said the next reaction would be to try and stop vehicle, a more difficult process as passengers had limited knowledge of the lorry and were physically constrained by a safety rail behind the driver designed to prevent passengers moving into the front of the vehicle.

Mr Hill’s report states that following the initial impact, the chances of passengers stopping incident would have been “slim”.

Questioned by Solicitor General Lesley Thomson about the crew members’ training for a driver falling ill, Mr Hill said no training currently exists in this area and regular training of this type ‘would only be for the good’.

Mr Hill’s report concludes the crew members had very little opportunity to take action to mitigate the incident and that using an emergency cut off switch could gave mitigated the crash but could also have made it worse.

The inquiry continues.