MSPs will write to the Scottish Government, prosecution officials and health and safety authorities over concerns people feel they are "not getting justice" due to rules on bringing private criminal prosecutions in Scotland.

Campaigner Bill Alexander has lodged a petition with parliament calling for a change in the law to give people in Scotland the same legal rights to bring private criminal prosecutions as the rest of the UK, removing the need for the Lord Advocate to grant permission.

Criminal cases brought by private parties are very rare in Scotland and recently gained prominence after the families of three of the victims in the Glasgow bin lorry crash - Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, 68 and 69, and their granddaughter Erin McQuade, 18 - attempted to prosecute driver Harry Clarke but had their application rejected.

The application was lodged after a fatal accident inquiry found Mr Clarke had lied about his medical history.

Six people were killed when Mr Clarke fainted at the wheel of the lorry which careered into pedestrians in the city centre on December 22, 2014 and the Crown Office said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Jacqueline Morton, 51, Stephenie Tait, 29, and Gillian Ewing, 52, also died in the crash.

A similar application for private prosecution by the families of students Mhairi Convy and Laura Stewart, who were knocked down and killed in Glasgow in 2010 by driver William Payne, was also rejected.

Johann Lamont, convener of Holyrood's Public Petitions Committee, said: "I get the idea that you prosecute in the public interest.

"I had a number of experiences of constituents who seek a fatal accident inquiry and don't get that because it's not regarded as being in the public interest.

"They can't get a criminal prosecution and they can't get Health and Safety to get involved, and they are left in a position where they feel there is nowhere to go, and I wonder if this compounds this feeling because they have to seek the permission of the Lord Advocate, who clearly doesn't grant these lightly.

"There's been some high-profile examples of private prosecutions that have not ended to the satisfaction of the people who had a terrible experience."

She added: "I think it's the kind of thing that even from the (committee) papers you could see the logic of the argument, the public prosecution in the public interest, but it's dealing with that bit where people feel they are not getting justice."

The committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Health and Safety Executive and the partnership for Health and Safety in Scotland seeking their views.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We note the committee's request and will respond in due course.

"It is worth noting that a private prosecution may still go ahead without the Lord Advocate's agreement, if authorised by the High Court."