BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable yesterday hailed Cowley’s Mini car plant as a great place to work and vital to Britain’s economy.

The Lib Dem MP toured the factory with 25 Oxfordshire careers advisers to promote job opportunities in the motor industry.

Mr Cable, pictured sitting in a Mini convertible with apprentice Michael Darley, said school pupils needed to visit factories to consider a manufacturing career.

He added: “There are lots of myths that the UK does not make anything anymore. But there is a lot of investment going in.”

The visit was part of a joint drive between the Government and car manufacturers to train more skilled workers.

BMW will invest £500m into its UK factories over the next three years. Most of the money will go towards expanding the Oxford plant, which takes on about 30 young apprentices every year.

Engineering apprentice Nicola Stanton, 18, from Kidlington, said: “You are getting paid and getting the education all in one.”

Business apprentice Jo Rolstone, 19, from Didcot, said: “This is better than going to university as you have the knowledge of a job rather than just studying.”

General manager of the paint shop, Phil Alden, 44, who joined the firm as an apprentice when he was 16, said: “You do not have to go to university to get a degree.”