Police took 11 days to inform family of death in 7/7 blast

And the parents of Miriam Hyman, 31, waited four agonising days before being told she had died in the Tavistock Square attack – even though she was found with her bag strapped around her containing several forms of identification.

The bereaved families are only now learning key facts about how their loved ones died, the pre-inquest hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was told.

Their lawyers criticised the authorities for failing to pass on all the information they had about the final moments of the 52 innocent victims of the attacks.

Some of the relatives have been shocked by information contained in new detailed reports about the four scenes of the bombings drawn up by the Metropolitan Police for the inquests.

The family of Aldgate victim Fiona Stevenson, 29, a solicitor who lived in central London, were told she died immediately.

But they learned from the police scene report – which they received only recently – that a doctor who attended her after the blast believed she was still alive.

Her relatives are also upset that a post-mortem examination report got the colour of her eyes wrong, the hearing was told.

The family of fellow Aldgate victim Lee Baisden, 34, a London Fire Brigade accountant from Romford, Essex, have only just learned that he was standing directly next to bomber Shehzad Tanweer when he detonated his device.

Their barrister Janine Sheff said: "This assisted them in understanding why identification of the body was difficult, and why no personal possessions were returned to them.

"One might have hoped that that type of information would have been made available to them at an earlier stage."

The parents of Ms Hyman, a picture researcher from Barnet, north London, have been deeply frustrated by not knowing about what happened to their daughter.

Ms Sheff said they were forced to track down a survivor and asked him questions. Now the report had "raised as many, if not more, questions as it has resolved".

Neil Saunders, counsel for nine bereaved families, said one of his clients was not told their loved one had died until 11 days after the attacks and another six days afterwards.

The family of Giles Hart, 55, a BT engineer and father-of-two from Hornchurch Essex, also had a painful wait until he was formally identified on July 14.

Neil Garnham QC, counsel for the Home Secretary and MI5, urged the coroner not to examine how the security service dealt with the limited information it had about the bombers before the attacks. He argued that the public interest and national security would be damaged.

The hearing continues today.