Downing Street has said that discussions about the issue are expected to take place 'in the coming days'

David Cameron is to meet Alex Salmond to discuss plans for a referendum on Scottish independence, Downing Street has announced.

Arrangements for the meeting between the prime minister and the first minister for Scotland, who are expected to discuss the UK government's consultation on the legality of an independence referendum, are to be made "in the coming days".

Salmond, whose Holyrood administration is at odds with the UK government over the details of a referendum, had called on Friday for Cameron and Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, to come to Scotland to discuss independence.

The secretary of state for Scotland, Michael Moore, has in turn asked Salmond for a meeting in Edinburgh this Thursday – an invitation that has not been formally accepted so far.

A No 10 spokesman said: "The prime minister has made it clear he is happy to meet Alex Salmond and arrangements for that will be made in the coming days. However, he also believes the first minister should accept the invitation to meet the secretary of state for Scotland on Thursday to discuss his views on the consultation process."

Salmond had previously claimed that he has unsuccessfully sought meetings with the prime minister on six occasions in the past but a spokesman for the Scottish National Pparty (SNP) leader said on Sunday night: "This is a very welcome development and represents real progress – it is much better than the initial reaction last Friday to the first minister's request for a meeting with the prime minister and deputy prime minister."

He added that the meetings would have to be after Salmond updated the Scottish parliament next Wednesday about the SNP's consultation on referendum arrangements.

"We believe it is to everyone's benefit that these meetings are informed by the published consultation documents of both the UK and Scottish governments, so that Mr Moore, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg can see what our proposals are – and we look forward to the meetings taking place."

Speaking in Dublin on Friday, where he spoke with Clegg during a meeting of the British-Irish Council, Salmond said he wanted the talks to take place in a consensual manner.

There has been sniping between London and Edinburgh since last weekend, when the prime minister opted to increase the pressure on the SNP to name a date for the referendum on independence.

Salmond said on Tuesday that he wanted to hold an independence referendum in Scotland in the autumn of 2014 as that date would allow people to make a "considered" decision on the country's future within the UK.

Cameron has said he wants a referendum "as soon as possible". There are also disagreements on the form the questions will take, with Westminster preferring a straightforward "yes" or "no" to independence while the SNP wants to offer an additional option of further devolution – so called "devo max".