German car manufacturer, BMW has pledged to spend a quarter of a million pounds over the next three years in Britain to boost worldwide production of the ever popular Mini, with the jobs of 5,500 British workers secured as a result.

The £250m worth of cash will be used to up production from Mini factories based in Oxford, Swindon and Birmingham and is in addition to the £500m pumped into the firm this time last year, reflecting the extraordinary turnaround for a car which - before it's big revamp - was seen very much as an outmoded, cult classic.

In a statement, BMW board member Harald Krueger said 'Over the last 11 years, Mini has been a unique global success and the BMW Group has even greater plans for the future development of the brand. Plant Oxford has played a major role in this with cars being exported to over 100 countries around the world. This additional investment…shows the BMW Group's commitment to Britain as a vital manufacturing base for us."

The capacity at Oxford is already constrained, so BMW's thinking of setting up some 'satellite production' at the former Mitsubishi Colt factory in the Netherlands to bridge the gap until the extra capacity at the UK plants comes on stream. And so the financial boost means that – love the Mini or hate the Mini – we're going to see many more of these little cars zooming around the cities of the world!