Lord Ericht in the Outer House arranged for a new four-day hearing to take place next month.

The action is being brought by the council against First Glasgow (No.1) Ltd. It seeks £446,012 from the company.

The council lawyers say First Scotland was negligent in its failure to disclose that driver Harry Clarke had lost consciousness while driving a bus in 2010.

Mr Clarke was never prosecuted as he had a medical condition and there was no evidence that he had broken the law.

Senior judges did not allow a private prosecution to proceed either.

Lord Ericht wrote: “The question of whether the giver of an employment reference owes a duty of care to a third party, being neither the employee nor the new employer, for omitting in the reference to warn the new employer of a risk of physical injury to the third party is a novel one. I was not referred to any authorities or academic discussion on the issue.

“In my opinion, in the current case, there is no such proximity as would give rise to a duty of care.”

The proceedings will begin on January 12.