The Mini is a little car with a mighty reputation and the power to keep thousands in work. The Millennium Mini has been thrust into the limelight as a possible bargaining chip in the latest twist in the tale of Rover's sell-off, writes David Duffy.

The car, which is due to go on sale next year, is expected to be a show-stopping, worldwide sales success and the plant that produces it will have a glittering future.

BMW has been adamant that it will keep the Cowley plant not surprising as it has pumped in more than 700m revitalising the factory in recent years.

The German car maker has been equally resolute in its repeated assertions that the new Mini will be built in Oxford. That has not stopped reports suggesting the new Mini could be built in plants as far apart as Hungary to Longbridge.

BMW's media spokesman Axel Obermller has faced a wearying few days responding to a welter of media reports which suggested that production of the new Mini might be on the move.

One report said it would be built in Germany, another that it would be transferred to Longbridge as part of the Phoenix bid talks which are continuing this week.

Mr Obermller said: "These are rumours and we deny them. We don't have a plan to move Mini production to some place else." With BMW claiming Rover is costing it 2m a day, the German car maker is keen to resolve the Rover sale quickly, particularly with the date of the impending annual meeting between shareholders and the board now just 12 days away.

Mr Obermller said: "We have said that we would like to finalise everything about the future of Rover in May. That is not a deadline, but it is clear we would like to finalise this month."

The past six weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster for those employed at Cowley's car plant.

Its sister plant, Longbridge, was to take the brunt of the closures, being turned into a low-volume production centre for hi-tech, MG-badged sports cars with the loss of thousands of jobs. Land Rover was expecting a secure future as one of the world's top four-wheel-drive manufacturers under the new ownership of Ford.

Cowley too looked set for an equally starry prospect as a state-of-the-art BMW plant, producing the new Mini and also building the executive Rover 75 saloon for venture capitalist firm Alchemy Partners which was to buy the ageing Longbridge plant.

All that appeared to change last Friday when Alchemy pulled out over the bill for redundancies and pensions, leaving the way open for this week's talks between BMW and the Phoenix consortium, led by former Rover Group chief executive John Towers. Rover Group chairman Professor Werner SM- mann said the Phoenix bid looked like the last chance of survival for the Longbridge plant, otherwise closure was unavoidable.

But as talks began between BMW and Phoenix, Alchemy then said it was "still in touch" with BMW.

Yesterday Japanese car giant Honda's name popped up in the continuing saga, denying reports that it was assisting in the Phoenix bid.

Honda, which had a nine-year collaboration with Rover and has a major car-making plant in Swindon, said: "Our relationship finished in 1994 and we have had no contact with Rover since on commercial issues of this kind. "We deeply regret the situation Rover finds itself in, but we have not had any formal contact with the Phoenix consortium in any way.

"Having said that, Honda is a commercial concern and we would always welcome the opportunity to conduct new business." The prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Oxford East, Cheryl Potter, said she had written to the Trade Secretary Stephen Byers and Oxford East MP Andrew Smith asking them to put pressure on BMW to ensure a safe future for the Mini and the Cowley plant. She said: "Andrew Smith will need to convince the residents of Oxford East that his Government is doing its best to secure the future of Cowley as a first-class car manufacturer."

Mr Smith, who is Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has been in close touch with BMW officials since the sell-off was announced and is convinced BMW will stick to its word and build the new Mini in Cowley.

The initial letter handed to shocked Rover workers at Cowley on March 16 ended with the words: "BMW Group remains committed to maintaining a major UK presence in terms of employment, manufacture and sales activities." The Cowley workers, and the thousands who depend on the plant, will be hoping that when they return to work on Monday those words still stand and the uncertainty which hangs like a cloud over Cowley will finally be removed.