The families of those killed in the Glasgow bin lorry crash wept yesterday as the fatal accident inquiry heard their loved ones would still be here if the driver had never been employed.

The inquiry heard that driver Harry Clarke did not inform Glasgow City Council, or a doctor assessing his fitness to hold an LGV licence, that he had lost consciousness behind the wheel of a bus in April 2010.

The families of the people who died - including three members of a Dumbarton family - after the runaway bin lorry mounted the pavement and ploughed into pedestrians on December 22 wept as Dorothy Bain QC said: “If he had never been employed by the city council, the six people who lost their lives three days before Christmas would still be here today.” Witness Douglas Gellan, a cleansing manager with the council’s Land and Environmental Services, replied: “Yes.” Ms Bain added: “If he had told the truth this all could have been prevented and we would not be here today.” Mr Gellan denied knowing about incidents in 1989, 1994 and 2003 involving Mr Clarke feeling dizzy or fainting.

The Crown Office said in February that Mr Clarke would not be prosecuted following the crash on December 22 in which he lost consciousness.

Prosecutors said there was “no evidence to suggest that the driver’s conduct at the time amounted to a breach of the criminal law”.

The inquiry heard that LGV drivers over the age of 45 have medical assessment every five years to make sure they are still fit to hold a licence and fill out a medical declaration.

On December 6, 2011 - three years before the tragedy - Dr Joanne Willox, instructed by Glasgow City Council, assessed Mr Clarke.

As part of the medical declaration, shown in court, Mr Clarke was asked if he had a “history of blackouts or impaired consciousness in the last five years”.

Ms Bain told the inquiry: “The answer ticked is ‘No’.” She added that if it was correct, as previously heard in evidence, that Mr Clarke told a inspector he “blacked out” behind the wheel of a bus in 2010 then “the answer in the form is a lie”.

Following the tragedy Dr Willox gave a statement to the police - on January 15, 2010 - in which she said that had she known about the illness in 2010, she would have “declared Mr Clarke temporarily unfit for duty”. She also said she would have disclosed this to the DVLA, requested to see Mr Clarke’s medical records, and informed the council.

In response to questioning by Mark Stewart QC, representing Dumbarton victims Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, Mr Gellan said he was ‘surprised and concerned’ to learn that Mr Clarke had his driving licences back.