An inquiry in to a bin lorry crash which claimed the lives of six people has heard the council's recruitment process was "not adequate" as it was revealed it would have cost bosses just £50 to get driver Harry Clarke's medical records revealing his previous health problems.

The claims came as it was suggested the inquiry will eventually show the 58-year-old driver is "not a monster" or a "criminal mastermind", but a man who repeatedly lied to get a job and keep it.

Mr Clarke, 58, who is still employed by Glasgow City Council, was driving the truck in the city centre in December last year when he appeared to lose consciousness at the wheel and the lorry veered out of control, killing six people.

It has since emerged that he suffered from previous blackouts and dizziness, but failed to notify the local authority when he applied for his post there.

The Fatal Accident Inquiry - which has been running for nine days - heard evidence from council HR manager Geraldine Ham who agreed with Dorothy Bain QC, representing the family of victim Jacqueline Morton, that where Mr Clarke "doesn't tell the council the truth, the recruitment process was not adequate in order to prevent his employment".

The QC went on: "For that reason you would agree, I presume, that the recruitment process wasn't adequate?"

Ms Ham responded: "There's room for improvement, yes."

The inquiry also heard from Solicitor Advocate Ronald Conway, representing the family of Stephanie Tait, who told Ms Ham that the cost of obtaining an individual's medical records was just £50.

He put it to the witness that given that the annual cost of paying the 24 employees the council took on at the time Mr Clarke was hired was in the region of half a million pounds, the extra cost in gaining access to their medical records “would not be disproportionate in circumstances, would it?"

Miss Ham replied: "No."

Mr Conway then went on to say: "I suspect that at the end of this, we’re going to find out that Mr Clarke is not a monster, that he’s not a criminal mastermind, but that he’s a person who has lied repeatedly to get a job and to keep a job."

He added that "there are a lot of Mr Clarkes out there", a lot of "fantasists and fabulists" who will lie to gain employment.

However, Ms Ham - who told the inquiry that potential employees must give permission for the council to access their medical records - revealed that addressing this by seeking all of the records could cause problems as the information has to be relevant to the post applied for.

Solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC put it to the manager that a possible option would be to send a medical questionnaire to the appropriate GP so it would limit the information being provided.

Ms Ham replied: "Yes it could be."

The inquiry heard last week that Mr Clarke complained to his doctor of feeling dizzy as far back as 1976.

A catalogue of almost 30 entries in his medical record was also revealed, including reports of vertigo, anxiety, depression, lethargy, stress, and "vasovagal" or fainting.

However, he failed to disclose his medical problems when applying for his jobs with the council and his previous employer First Bus. It has also been claimed that he lied on a DVLA form.

Erin McQuade, 18, her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and his 69-year-old wife Lorraine, all from Dumbarton, died when the lorry lost control in Queen Street and George Square on December 22.

Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed when the truck mounted the pavement before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel.

The inquiry, before Sheriff John Beckett QC, continues.