The Today presenter Jim Naughtie said he is baffled by Alex Salmond's "bizarre" continued attacks on the outgoing BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Naughtie, who is to leave BBC Radio Four's Today later this year, said he had recently spoken to the former First Minister at the Beyond Borders festival at Traquair House.

"He said the BBC coverage of the referendum was a disgrace and I respectfully disagreed," Naughtie said.

"I think the personalisation of it, a year on, is bizarre.

"I think the idea that the former First Minister, a very distinguished parliamentarian in Edinburgh and Westminster, is still getting at Nick for one alleged offence in the course of, in the heat of, an election campaign is bizarre.

"It's very interesting that the First Minister herself [Nicola Sturgeon] shows no interest in getting involved in that talk."

Robinson, at the book festival last week, said that the demonstrations outside the BBC last year reminded him of Putin's Russia.

Naughtie said "we all choose our phrases" and he himself may have made another comparison but would not criticise Robinson's words.

"I just think it's weird that Alex Salmond is still pursuing that argument," he said.

"I think the BBC behaved as a responsible public broadcaster and of course there is always room for argument about X or Y in any election campaign, there always is, but a year later to be banging on about one individual as the result of a press conference - I think there should be an end of it now."

Naughtie said that Salmond had told him that on the day of the Independence Referendum that he believed that the Yes side of the vote would prevail.

Naughtie said he thought the demonstrations outside the BBC last year did "quite a bit damage" to the Yes campaign.

Salmond recently lashed out at the BBC, denouncing its coverage of the 2014 independence referendum as a “disgrace”.

The former First Minister also attacked Robinson saying he should be “embarrassed and ashamed” of his coverage of the campaign.

Mr Salmond, now the MP for Gordon, used a newspaper column to retaliate over comments Mr Robinson made last week at the Edinburgh Book Festival, where he was promoting his Election Diary.

The 51-year-old journalist, who will shortly join BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme, said he regretted his row with Salmond at the time of the referendum but criticised the "intimidation and bullying" of journalists during the campaign.