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Alex Salmond has branded the behaviour of the current Scottish government a "disgrace", and warned his legal action against ministers would have cost taxpayers more than 拢750,000.

The former first minister accused the country's most senior civil servant of having a "bias" against him.

And he insisted he will pursue the "serious matter" of permanent secretary Leslie Evans contacting two Scottish government staff who raised harassment allegations against him.

Mr Salmond's comments come as a Holyrood committee continues to look at the Scottish government's botched handling of allegations against him - which saw the former first minister win a legal payout of more than £500,000.

That was after the Court of Session ruled the government had acted unlawfully, with the woman appointed to investigate harassment allegations having already had dealings with the two female complainants.

In a submission to the committee Mr Salmond said: "I was astonished when I discovered this. There is nothing in the procedure which allows for this."

He insisted this was "behaviour incompatible with the role of an impartial decision maker" and was also "further evidence of bias against me".

Mr Salmond accused the Scottish government of a "lack of candour and a systematic failure to disclose", further claiming this had been "deliberate and consistent".

He said this behaviour had "continued through the judicial review process and then my criminal trial" - in which he was cleared of all charges of sexual assault against him.

He insisted it is a "matter of deep regret that I had no option but to take the Scottish government to the Court of Session".

"In this case, the illegality was finally conceded but only after a legal process which will have cost upwards of £750,000 of taxpayers' money and which caused immense strain and distress to all involved," he said.

"The behaviour of the government was, in my view, a disgrace."

The committee has asked Mr Salmond to appear before MSPs to answer their questions on 9 February.

The investigation comes as opposition MSPs continue to question whether current first minister Nicola Sturgeon misled parliament over when she first became aware of allegations against her predecessor.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The points raised in this submission have been addressed previously.

"The First Minister looks forward to answering any further questions from the committee when she appears in person in due course."