OXFORD City Council ignored warnings almost three years ago to get a rescue plan in place for mass job losses at BMW, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

Managers were told they should be ready to apply for emergency European money to help re-train workers and have a team ready to set up a centre to give them help and advice.

But the report — written following the collapse of MG Rover and TVR and warning Oxford “might be sleep walking into one of the biggest (and yet foreseeable) challenges that has faced us to date” if BMW left the city — was shelved and not acted on.

Last night laid-off workers criticised the council for not acting on the report.

A copy of the report obtained by the Oxford Mail focused on the need to prepare ahead of any future BMW plan to relocate its Oxford plant.

Although the car giant yesterday stressed there are no plans to relocate, it was claimed acting on the document’s advice would have put the council in a better position to help 1,280 BMW agency staff laid off in the past three months.

A source said managers had “no appetite” to take the report on and it would now take nine months to get the same application to the European Social Fund ready from scratch.

He said: “If they had prepared it then as a contingency there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be on someone’s desk in Brussels by some time next week.”

Last night, a council spokesman admitted the report had been written but denied politicians and current senior managers knew anything about it.

Llewellyn Ballard, 23, from Field Avenue, Blackbird Leys, who worked at the Cowley Mini plant until December, said: “If they had a document in front of them warning this could happen and they haven’t done it it’s terrible.”

Dinis Santos, 29, who worked at the plant for two years until he was laid off on Monday, said: “If they had planned for it already they’d be able to say something now about jobs, not just tell people how to apply for Job Seekers Allowance or housing benefit.”

Another council source said: “It is very disappointing that we are now facing this issue with nothing to immediately grab off the shelf to help the 850 people laid off this week.”

Then-council leader John Goddard said he had not seen the report, while current leader Bob Price said: “If it’s got some ideas that are not currently being used it could be useful.”

A council spokesman said: “The document referred to was written some time ago by a junior officer who no longer works for the council.

“None of the current senior management team or councillors were aware of this document.”

The city council this week announced it had created a Job Club with Oxfordshire County Council. The weekly three-hour drop-in sessions at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, begin on Thursday at 11.30am.

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk