THE man police believe was behind the wheel of the car that crashed on the M8 killing three people has been released without charge.

The 35-year-old, who the Telegraph understands is from Greenock, was arrested on Sunday evening after the horrific smash in which a trio of local people lost their lives.

David Paton, from Greenock, and Manveer Benning, of Inverkip, both 27, and Mark Downie, 31, a former Greenock Juniors player, were all pronounced dead at the scene.

Emergency services were called to the westbound carriageway near junction 31 at Langbank just after 5am.

A full fleet of 999 vehicles immediately rushed to the scene, near Langbank, plus the Police Scotland helicopter.

Police say that five other men who were in the Audi Q7 were taken to hospital by ambulance crews for treatment after suffering serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The severely-damaged Audi was left on its roof in a ditch, with police erecting screens around the accident scene as a full investigation got under way into the fatal crash.

Investigators examined the road and the field around where the vehicle ended up after leaving the motorway.

The road did not reopen until 8.30pm on Sunday, after the crumpled car was recovered from the field and removed.

The 35-year-old male was arrested in connection with road traffic offences as Police Scotland appealed for information about the incident.

He was questioned by officers, but no charges were raised and he has now been let go by officers.

A Police Scotland spokesperson told the Telegraph today: “A 35-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident on Sunday.

"He has since been released without charges at this time.

“Enquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident remain ongoing.

"Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 0860 of 19/09/21.”