THE director of a £30 million museum in Manchester is to step down, just eight months after the attraction opened.

Elizabeth Usher, the director of Urbis, is to leave her job as the firm behind the venture makes plans to increase visitor numbers.

The distinctive glass building was unveiled in June 2002 as the last part of the city's regeneration, following the 1996 IRA bombing.

Urbis, in the city's Millennium Quarter, was six years in the planning.

Four levels of exhibits are accessed via a glass elevator and allow visitors to "travel" to different cities across the world.