ALEX Salmond will not be available to give evidence to a Holyrood enquiry over harassment allegations next week, his lawyers have said.

MSPs had wanted him to appear before them next week.

In a new lawyers' letter, his team says he cannot do so for a fortnight.

It states: "Our client is available to give evidence to the committee on any day, at any time in the week beginning 8th February, including on the 8th itself if you wish to hear his evidence before that of the First Minister."

The letter is addressed to Linda Fabiani, chair of the specially-convened Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints.

The cross-party body had wanted Salmond to give his evidence in the first week of February and will meet tomorrow to consider whether or not to accept the former SNP leader's offer.

His legal team says the dates he has specified should allow time for the publication of material not yet released into the public domain. This includes a submission he made to James Hamilton.

The QC, who is an independent advisor to the Scottish Government, is heading a separate inquiry on whether or not Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code in her actions relating to Salmond’s case.

Salmond was cleared of 14 charges of sexual offences in a high-profile trial last March. The current inquiry is about how the Scottish Government handled those allegations.

Today's meeting of the committee comes as it awaits a response from the Crown Office to a request for a number of documents from the former First Minister’s two trials.

It has until Friday evening to respond to the bid for any documents linked to the leaking of complaints to the Daily Record newspaper in August 2018 and text or WhatsApp communications between SNP chief operating officer Susan Ruddick and Scottish Government ministers, civil servants or special advisers from between August 2018 and January 2019 that may be relevant to the inquiry.

In the letter to Fabiani, Salmond's lawyer states: "Our client is a private citizen. He is working full time while assisting the inquiry.

"Despite reasonable requests, he has been refused any assistance with legal costs but has been expected to provide extensive assistance to your inquiry, which could not and cannot be done without legal advice. That advice has proven necessary particularly in light of the risks of prosecution he continues to face if he provides you with all the relevant information you have requested, a situation which he considers unacceptable in the context of a public inquiry which is specifically designed to establish the truth.

"This, despite the fact that the Scottish Government has pledged full co-operation, yet apparently continues to renege on that undertaking for reasons which appear only to serve their interests and not that of the public.

"For the avoidance of doubt, that approach has nothing to do with preserving the anonymity of complainers. It was our client who sought the initial anonymity orders at a hearing on 4 October 2018 which the Scottish Government did not even attend and also approved the section 11 Order of Lady Dorrian at the trial.

"Unlike the Scottish Government and the witnesses they have chosen to support, our client does not have the benefit of a state funded legal department or external legal advice provided at public expense."

The committee is expected to publish its response later this week.