VISITORS to a disabled parking bay have been dismayed to find their only exit is up a steep flight of steps.

Wheelchair-bound visitors to the Sage music venue at Gateshead have been grateful to find a clearly marked bay to park in.

But the only way from the car park to the centre is up a flight of 49 steps near the disabled bays.

The spaces are in the newly opened Mill Road car park, on the Quayside, and are ideal for access to the Sage.

The car park is run by Gateshead Council, which said it was committed to providing disabled parking spaces.

A spokesman said: "The spaces are as close as possible to the stairs which lead to the Sage, but they were never meant to be fully accessed.

"The fact that disabled spaces are provided does not necessarily mean they are for use by the wheelchair-bound."

Disabled visitor Michael Clarke, 49, said: "Anyone in a wheelchair would find it impossible to tackled that flight of steps alone or even with help.

"I would have expected the whole thing to have been thought out rather better.

"They may as well have not bothered with a bay at all, because once you are in it, there is no way out."

The Gateshead Access Panel, which monitors access for disabled people in the town, will examine whether it contravenes the Disability Discrimination Act.

If it does, the council may have to change the design of the car park to incorporate wheelchair access to the Quayside and the Sage.

A Sage spokeswoman said there were wheelchair-accessible spaces on the same level as the music centre.