THE boss at Oxford’s Mini plant last night expressed his regret after 140 agency workers were axed at the weekend.

The staff were told they were not needed following a change in shift patterns at the factory because of “fluctuations in demand” for the car.

It came as BMW said Mini recorded its best ever global September sales.

Managing director Dr Jurgen Hedrich said: “It is always regrettable when we are not able to extend the contracts of temporary workers and we are working closely with Right4-Staff (a job agency) who will aim to place affected workers elsewhere, including at our other UK operations.”

Mini parent firm BMW scrapped the Saturday shift at the end of last month reducing the workforce at the Cowley factory to around 4,000.

Bosses said most of the workers had been taken on since July on short-term contracts as cover for holidays and natural wastage.

A plant spokesman said: “While the company remains cautiously confident about the strength of the global automotive market, a good deal of uncertainty persists and it is vital that production patterns are able to respond flexibly to the fluctuations in demand.”

It added affected workers had been given a minimum of five weeks’ notice and the new shift pattern would give the plant more flexibility as it works toward the introduction of two new models – the Mini Coupé and Roadster due to be produced at Cowley in 2011 and 2012.

BMW said the Mini brand marked record global September sales this year thanks to the new Mini Countryman which was made in the firm’s plant in Austria.

And the sales surge continued with latest UK figures showing 3,183 cars were sold in October, which was two per cent more than for the same month last year.

For the year to date 36,003 cars have been sold, a rise of 9.4 per cent. Meanwhile, for the first three quarters of 2010 global Mini sales rose 3.8 per cent to 167,751 cars.

BMW is now investing in new equipment at the plant to accommodate new models and has been granted planning permission for an extension to the facilities to enable a third generation of Minis to be built.