BMW confirms job cuts at Mini

• 850 jobs to go at Mini
• Weekend shift scrapped
• Week-long shutdown, too

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BMW has announced that 850 jobs are to go at its Mini factory at Cowley in Oxford.

The company has also confirmed that weekend shifts have been scrapped, and the agency staff who worked them have lost their jobs with immediate effect.

Work at the Cowley plant has also been suspended as part of a planned week-long shutdown.

A BMW statement said: 'Mini plant Oxford will be bringing in a new shift pattern in response to continuing volatile market conditions.

'As of Monday 2 March, the plant will go from a three-shift to a two-shift pattern, operating five days per week instead of the current seven.'

The new shift pattern will start on March 2.

BMW has become the latest manufacturer to announce job losses or cuts in production after a sharp decline in vehicle sales.

Others companies who have done so include Aston , Bentley, Vauxhall, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Toyota.