The families of the victims of the Westminster Bridge attack have called for lessons to be learned after the atrocity.

Coroner Mark Lucraft QC found shortcomings in the security arrangements at the Palace of Westminster meant armed officers were not aware of where they were supposed to patrol, and had they been properly briefed Pc Keith Palmer’s murder could have been prevented.

His widow Michelle welcomed the finding, saying her husband was left “with no protection to die”.

Mr Palmer’s parents and siblings, John and Sylvia Curtis, Angela Clark, Michelle Palmer, and John Curtis said: “The inquest has been traumatic and extremely difficult for our family.

“We welcome the fact that the Chief Coroner has recognised some of the Met’s failings – and their consequences – but believe he should have gone further. We fought hard to try and get answers to the many questions which have arisen through this process.

“Unfortunately there are many which are still unanswered.

“We expected the Met to welcome an open and transparent examination of this horrific attack on its own officer and members of the public, yet instead senior officers seem to have closed ranks. What message does this send to ordinary officers bravely reporting for duty every day, to keep us all safe?

“We would like to say how proud we are of Keith. We now have an even clearer picture of just how brave and courageous he was in that terrible moment. We love and miss him every day, but we are very glad that we had him in our lives.”

Meanwhile the widower of Aysha Frade, John Frade, said the family hope lessons will be learned.

He said: “Even though these proceedings can never bring Aysha back we are here to make sure that the only ones who are remembered as a result of this atrocity are Aysha and the other victims.

“One of the first pieces of advice Aysha ever gave me was that for things to change, you need to change.

“We hope that as a part of her legacy lessons will be learned in preventing other families from being in this situation in the future.

“Aysha will be forever our guiding light and even though our family will never be the same without her, we will continue to fight against the injustice.”

Patrick Maguire, from Slater and Gordon, which represents Pc Palmer’s widow and Melissa Cochran, whose husband Kurt died in the attack, added: “Kurt Cochran and Keith Palmer were cruelly snatched away from their loved ones by the evil acts of Khalid Masood, devastating their families and leaving them distraught at the brutal nature of their deaths.

“Both Kurt and Keith were heroes in their own ways, with Kurt protecting his wife Melissa and Keith trying to protect others by trying to stop Masood from getting into the Palace of Westminster.

“While we welcome the coroner’s findings that there were shortcomings in the security system we still feel there are many unanswered questions about how this was allowed to happen. We have concerns that the full facts will never come out.”