Agency workers, some of whom were laid off in February, started work at BMW Mini this morning as a new shift began to cope with an upturn in demand.

The 250 workers are on a new 11 shift system, working two shifts a day, Monday to Friday, and started work at the Cowley plant at 5am.

As part of the 11 shift system, the agency workers and other staff will also complete one shift on a Saturday.

There will also be an occasional Sunday shift, the first of which will start on Sunday.

Rebecca Baxter, a spokesman for BMW Mini, confirmed that staff began working on the new shift system this morning.

The new shift started after a four-day shut down over the weekend, caused by a strike at a supplier of steering components in France.

Some of the agency workers hired for the 11 shift lost their jobs in February when 850 staff were laid off because of a drop in sales.