BMW is taking on an extra 500 workers at Cowley to boost production of its award-winning Mini.

The car company, which operates two shifts from Monday to Thursday, plans to start weekend working to meet demand for the new model.

BMW spokesman Martina Mertes said: "We want to increase the work to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"The workers who are here can volunteer for that shift, but obviously, we are looking for extra people who might find this weekend shift would fit in with their current lifestyle.

"It wouldn't start immediately, but to deliver the number of cars we want, we need an extra shift. We have a national recruitment campaign. We are not concerned that we may be having an effect on other businesses around Oxford."

BMW's earlier decision to employ 1,800 extra workers at Cowley put pressure on other firms, including bus company Stagecoach, which found it difficult to recruit and keep staff.

Those jobs have now been filled, but the company believes its two Monday-Thursday shifts will not be enough to make 30,000 cars this year and 100,000 by the end of 2002.

David Whitley, of Stagecoach, said: "The Mini's popularity is obviously great news for Oxford and it is a shame that this has led to a drain on the employment market.

"Recruitment for companies such as ourselves has obviously been more difficult as a result, but as in all competitive situations, we are looking at ways to improve the package we offer.

"While it is competition we could do without, the consequences for the Oxford economy had the Mini been a flop do not bear thinking about."

David Highton, chief executive of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust - responsible for the city's major hospitals - said NHS managers in Oxford had struggled to recruit staff at all levels for a number of years.

He said: "The expansion of this major industry would make the labour market tighter. However, we believe we have lost only a few staff to BMW over the past couple of months."

Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce commended BMW for thinking ahead and said redundancies in the south east, including British Airways airport staff and Panasonic workers in Berkshire, would soon replenish the manpower market.

Spokesman Ms Mary Flavelle said: "We did check how BMW was recruiting staff. They haven't been at anyone's door driving people in.

"They have actually used an agency in a legitimate way. There should be a number of redundancies in the Thames Valley area in the next few months causing an influx of staff. We can't blame BMW for being ahead of the game."