A woman was killed after a lorry ploughed into her house when the driver suffered an "explosive coughing fit", a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Catherine Bonner, 55, died on February 14, 2013, after the HGV, driven by George Marshall, smashed into the side of her house.

Her partner, Jim McColl, was badly injured in the crash in Fairlie, North Ayrshire.

Mr Marshall was initially reported to the procurator fiscal for causing her death by dangerous driving but the Crown Office decided against pursuing the case.

The inquiry into Ms Bonner's death began at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Monday.

Dr Peter Bloomfield, 64, a consultant cardiologist from Edinburgh, examined Mr Marshall in 2014.

He told the court: "The account [Mr Marshall] gave me corresponded exactly with what he said earlier. He was driving his fully loaded lorry and he had an explosive coughing fit.

"He saw himself crash into the wall, he remembers someone helping him out of the cab."

Dr Bloomfield explained how he carried out his examination of Mr Marshall.

He said: "You'd be asking for symptoms of dizziness and episodes where he might have been dizzy at the wheel of a lorry.

"He's a smoker and overweight but this episode that occurred seems to have been a very violent episode."

Dr Bloomfield added Mr Marshall weighed more than 15 sonet and diagnosed the HGV driver as suffering from carotid sinus hypersensitivity (CSH).

The medical expert added CSH combined with a coughing fit could result in someone passing out.

He stated: "In my opinion, the episode of coughing was very closely related to the loss of control of the vehicle."

Dr Bloomfield said it is possible to have an isolated episode such as this and that there was no evidence that Mr Marshall could have a future episode.

He confirmed Mr Marshall had experienced "nothing before and nothing after".

Dr Bloomfield added: "It just happened to have happened and tragically it ended like this."

The doctor told the inquiry both Mr Marshall and his partner seemed "entirely credible" when speaking to him and there were no inconsistencies regarding the lorry driver's history.