A controversial cable car system on Venice's Calatrava Bridge is to be dismantled due to lack of use and technical problems, a mere six years after it opened at a cost of two million euros.

Venice's mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, was on Saturday handed the closure order from Italy's Court of Auditors, which had been considering the fate of the system that had become a white elephant for the city.

The court's experts highlighted the high costs of the cable car, which quickly fell into neglect after being largely shunned by tourists and suffering several technical failures.

Venice’s visitors complained about its slowness and the fact that the cars were fully exposed to the sun, becoming unbearably hot during the summer.

Worrying glitches also put off tourists: in May 2015, two Americans were briefly trapped in one of the baking gondolas.