Rome’s embattled mayor, Virginia Raggi, faced calls for her resignation this weekend after three major metro stations were shut down in the heart of the Italian capital due to concerns over faulty escalators.

Shopkeepers and tourists were furious when the transport company, ATAC, closed the central Spagna metro station in the city’s upscale shopping precinct for urgent checks on Saturday.

The Barberini station was closed last week and the Repubblica metro has been shut down since last October after the escalator accelerated, injuring several people.

“We believe this situation is no longer acceptable,” said Valter Giammaria, Rome president of the small business organisation, Confesercenti.

“Our businesses and Roman citizens have been suffering since last year without the city’s administration making any specific commitments. Justifications about the obsolescence of infrastructure are worthless.”

Rome’s latest transport chaos was bad news for Ms Raggi, the city’s first female mayor and a leading figure in the Five Star Movement, who has been criticised for failing to manage rubbish collection, parks and gardens or fix worsening potholes since her election in 2016. Several city buses have also gone up in flames since she was elected.

Andrea Casu, Rome secretary of the centre-left Democratic Party, accused the mayor of “demonstrable ineptitude” and demanded she resign before the metro system was completely shut down.