BEFORE I throw off this mortal coil I would very much like to visit the planet inhabited by Mr Limmer, it sounds idyllic.

I note that he claims to have worked on door assembly in 1977 for a short period of time and the lack of door handles was, as he claims, a result of bean counters obviously miscounting.

It was almost certainly a result of a failed delivery, for whatever reason, by the supplier of the door handles.

I worked for what was eventually BMW in its many guises, starting as BMC from 1962 to 2000. For the first 25 years, I and tens of thousands of others were plagued with often long periods of short time, again often caused by suppliers either on strike or failing to deliver. We were frequently shut-out, again without pay, in the event of a breakdown on the manufacturing system, which were frequent.

Not once in all that time did either I, or the tens of thousands that worked there, receive a penny in payment.

The only redress we had regarding benefits would be to report to a community centre at the end of Botley Road, where we were dealt with by charmless civil servants. After filling in countless forms we were informed anything we were entitled to would be posted to us the following week.

I’ve known men with families travel from as far as Banbury, Bicester and Chipping Norton and the following week receive two milk tokens, which entitled them to two bottles of milk.

So Mr Limmer, don’t tell me and the tens of thousands of others like me that we received payment for not working when shut-out, or that we would be invited back in on time-and-a-half as some sort of imaginary bonus. It never happened.

KEN ROPER, Morton Avenue, Kidlington