A UNION convenor at BMW Mini in Cowley said staff should be praised for helping the company to achieve its latest record sales figures.

Chris Bond said it was "fantastic news" after BMW Group announced its best ever June, with 38,282 vehicles delivered to customers around the world.

Sales were up 6.3 per cent on the previous year, and a total of 174,898 Minis were sold in the first half of 2016, an increase of 5.4 per cent on the same period last year.

Last month Mr Bond, Unite union convenor at the plant, warned workers' jobs could potentially be at risk after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

But after the latest sales figures were announced, Mr Bond said: "Of course concerns about Brexit remain, but these figures are brilliant.

"It's very positive for the workforce and they just need to keep making the cars the customers want.

"Not all the Minis are made here - the Cabriolet is built in Holland and in Austria they build the Countryman but staff at Cowley deserve a pat on the back.

"In the short-term this is very encouraging for the workers."

Peter Schwarzenbauer, a board member of BMW Group, said: "This is Mini's best first-half-year performance to date.

"We are delighted to see that the third generation of the Mini Convertible is proving so popular, while the Mini Clubman’s offering of every-day practicality in the larger compact class has won many new fans for the brand."

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, who drives a BMW Mini, said: "I hope these latest sales figures will reassure BMW following the Brexit vote.

"If the pound falls it does make Cowley-made Minis cheaper in world markets, but questions remain about what will happen with import and export tariffs and I am keeping in close contact with BMW about the prospect of leaving the EU."

Mini production hit 201,000 in Cowley in 2015 but this year's production figures are not yet available.