THE driver of the bin lorry which careered out of control killing six people has resigned from his job at Glasgow City Council with immediate effect.
Harry Clarke, who has been suspended by the authority after evidence emerged at a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) that he repeatedly misled officials over his history of blackouts, was due to face a disciplinary hearing.
His decision to resign came just ahead of the planned hearing. It is understood he submitted his resignation minutes before the hearing was due to commence.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “Harry Clarke has resigned with immediate effect and is no longer an employee of Glasgow City Council.”
The local authority suspended him from his duties in August on full pay ahead of a “full disciplinary investigation”.
Had the hearing gone ahead the expectation was the former First Bus driver would have been sacked by the authority.
But earlier on Friday there had been contact between the city council and Mr Clarke's union, Unite, before a letter from him declaring his resignation was submitted.
Sources have dismissed claims the move allows the 58-year-old to retain his pension, claiming it was a financial product he had bought into and would not have been affected by any action.
One source said: "I suppose it spares him the indignity of being sacked and telling any future employer of this. But he only has to mention his name and people will know the back story."
Six people were killed when the bin lorry careered along the pavement on Queen Street before crashing into the Millennium Hotel.
Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, were struck and killed by the lorry.
Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, also died in the crash.
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