The Arndale's new £11m food quarter opened last month in a blaze of publicity.

But its design is causing a bit of head scratching.

Shoppers have been asking why the two escalators in Halle Square have sets of stairs at the bottom.

Dan Hett tweeted a picture of the escalators with the message: "Manchester's most useless piece of infrastructure is finished, congratulations to everyone involved in phoning this one in."

It was liked and retweeted hundreds of times.

Yaas Al'Yule joked: "They definitely ordered the wrong escalators and just went with it rather than return them."

Dan Farrimond tweeted: "Cool, now we can climb some steps just to get to an escalator."

And Julie posted: "Every time I pass this I am absolutely amazed, they put stairs at the end of the escalator. It’s bizarre and not disabled or elderly friendly."

The design also sparked a debate on social media site Reddit.

A Reddit user 'racoon mcgoo' wrote: "As someone who regularly needs crutches it’s definitely crappy design."

'UtzTheCrabChip' replied: "This is interesting. Since escalators are specifically not accessible conveyances, these steps prevent their unsafe use by people in wheelchairs, crutches or (honestly the worst offender) strollers.

"So it's actually a good design?"

Prosecco bar Fizz!, at the bottom of the escalators, was the first venue to open in the new food quarter, followed by Wolf Italian Street Food.

Manchester-based burrito chain Barburrito, and Spanish TV chef Omar Allibhoy's Tapas Revolution are due to follow in the coming weeks and months.

David Allinson, centre director at Manchester Arndale, said: “We’re really pleased so many people have been enjoying Halle Place – FIZZ! Bar by Frizzenti, Wolf Street Food and Barburrito have all been pulling in the crowds, and we are looking forward to Archie’s joining us in the New Year.

“We know the stairs at the bottom of the escalators have sparked some interest; they had to be included because of some technical constraints in the building. There is also a brand-new lift nearby to help everyone access all areas of the centre.”