The inquiry into the spiralling costs of the new Scottish parliament building will begin next month, it has been confirmed.

Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, who will lead the investigation, announced that a preliminary hearing will be held next week, at which the names of the first witnesses will be revealed.

"I intend to start with calling those civil servants who advised [then Scotland secretary] Donald Dewar and other ministers about the prospective opportunities for the location of the parliament in Edinburgh and analyse the way that they first suggested what might be the likely costs," he said.

Over the summer, the Conservative peer has been collating evidence dating back six years, while an appeal for whistleblowers to email the inquiry had received an "extraordinary" response he claimed.

"We have had an extraordinary number of hits on the website," he told BBC Scotland.

"We have had a number of very interesting observations from people who worked on the site or from their spouses."

Among the allegations he will be investigating include claims that contractors charged the parliament's corporate body for improperly completed work.

A report will be published once the building is completed.

Talking to the Politics Tonight show, Lord Fraser said he had been following the Hutton inquiry closely.

Like the investigation into the death of David Kelly, his would publish papers relating to the Holyrood project electronically. But unlike Hutton, Fraser is considering allowing television cameras to be present.

"One of the things I am determined to do is that it allows for the widest possible publicity and reporting across Scotland," he explained.