More than 200 people who had temporary job offers with Oxford's BMW plant withdrawn the day before they were due to start work will not receive any compensation.

A spokesman for Manpower, the employment agency recruiting on behalf of BMW, said they were doing all they could to find alternative work for those people affected, but could not offer them any money.

Barry Hepworth, from the New Forest in Hampshire, has spoken of his shock at discovering his job at the Cowley car plant was over before it had even begun.

He bought a car to commute from the south coast. The day before he was due to start he phoned Manpower to check parking facilities - only to be told he had no job. He said: "I was totally stunned.

"Manpower were full of platitudes, but told me they had had a meeting with BMW who no longer wanted any more staff. If I had not made that call, I would have driven 80 miles to get there for 7.15am, only to be told 'Sorry, what are you doing here?'"

Mr Hepworth, who was offered a job in August, wants to know why it took BMW until September to decide that they no longer needed any more staff. He said he had considered legal action against Manpower, but was more concerned about finding a job.

BMW spokesman Maria Mertes said: "In our launch phase we had to recruit more workers, but we are now having to make adjustments. It is very unfortunate that this situation has arisen."

Miss Mertes said BMW hoped to offer temporary work to some of those taken on by Manpower during the coming months.

According to Rob Eldridge, a London-based lawyer specialising in employment law, employers who withdraw job offers are only liable if workers have signed a contract with a set notice period. In this case, employees could sue for losses incurred during the notice period.

A Manpower spokesman said the 200 prospective employees would have received contracts on their first day at work.