Security camera footage has emerged from China of two people narrowly avoiding serious injury when an escalator at a metro station malfunctioned badly.

In the clip, which was filmed in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province on Thursday, two people walk onto the escalator and suddenly several steps appear to invert and pop out of the mechanism.

The pair manage to run up the escalator to safety, but only just avoid having their legs caught by the malfunctioning moving staircase.

++PLEASE NOTE: THIS SECURITY CAMERA FOOTAGE IS MUTE FROM SOURCE++