All parties at Holyrood have agreed to set up a parliamentary inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of two sexual harassment complaints against Alex Salmond.

MSPs on the Holyrood bureau gave the probe the go-ahead on Tuesday following calls for an investigation by opposition party leaders.

It is understood a special committee will examine meetings last year between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond and the process used by the civil service in handling the complaints.

The parliamentary bureau will meet in coming weeks to discuss membership of the committee and its specific remit.

Last Tuesday, the Scottish Government's handling of the claims against the former first minister was ruled unlawful by Scotland's highest civil court.

The allegations were previously referred to Police Scotland last year and a police investigation remains ongoing.

Sturgeon revealed she had three meetings and two phone calls with her predecessor about the government investigation into his conduct.

The First Minister referred herself at the weekend to the panel of independent advisers on the ministerial code over the conversations.

A spokesman for Sturgeon also claimed on Monday that allies of Salmond had been conducting a "smear campaign" in the press against her.

This came after reports in The Scottish Sun that the First Minister had known prior to her initial meeting with Salmond last April that she had known of the probe into his conduct.

Sturgeon strongly denies this and says she only became aware of the investigation when Salmond told her at that meeting in her Glasgow home on April 2 last year.

A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman said: "Bureau members unanimously agreed to create a new committee of inquiry.

"Officials have been asked to prepare options on its remit and membership and these will be discussed at a future meeting of the bureau."

The special committee will be set up for the inquiry but it is unlikely to get fully under way until Police Scotland's investigation is complete.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: "This is the right decision and a positive step forward.

"Full transparency in this matter is essential in order for the public to have confidence in the First Minister and the Scottish government. That means full public and parliamentary scrutiny.

"At all times it is essential to remember that at the centre of all of this are two courageous women who put their faith in a system that has badly let them down, and we must never lose sight of that, by safeguarding the duty of care to them and their access to justice.

"We must restore trust and confidence in the system, this committee will be an important step towards that."

Interim Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: "I'm pleased that the parliamentary bureau has decided today to back the Scottish Conservative proposal for a Holyrood inquiry into this affair.

"An investigation has been botched, two complainants have been let down, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money has been wasted.

"These are clearly matters for the Scottish Parliament to investigate, and the inquiry must be able to examine what went wrong and why this was allowed to happen."