BMW bosses hope these huge, eye-catching adverts on the side of their Oxford plant will persuade drivers to buy the new Mini car - not crash into the central reservation, writes Andrew Ffrench.

But some of the promotional banners considered by car bosses have been hidden from the public gaze - for being too raunchy.

One of the images featuring a scantily-clad woman is still on show inside the plant - but only car workers will be able to see it.

"One of the images was a bit too eye-catching for drivers, so we decided to withdraw it," said Martina Mertes, a spokesman for BMW.

"That particular banner is now on show on the outside of the paintshop, so our workers see it when they are going home. We want to brighten up the plant, and this is a good way of promoting the Mini in the run-up to the car going on the market."

To keep orders for the 10,000 car coming in fast, BMW are planning to put up a series of the colourful banners - up to 16ft high - that will be displayed on an office building fronting the bypass.

Six-metre flagpoles also will display advertising banners.

On November 8, councillors at Oxford City Council gave BMW's plans the go-ahead. They agreed that the company could put the banners up on one of the three main buildings fronting the bypass during the next 18 months.

This was despite opposition from the Oxford Civic Society. Spokesman Tony Joyce said: "We think this will be much too distracting for drivers."