The Cowley plant took over Mini production in 2002

More than three quarters of the suggestions submitted by employees at the Mini plant at Cowley, Oxford, were put in to practice by managers, figures reveal.

A total of 14,333 ideas were put forward, ranging from saving unnecessary use of paper to more complex engineering solutions.

The Cowley plant took over Mini production from Birmingham in 2002 after a �230m makeover.

Dr Tony Heiss, managing director of the plant, said: "We have moved away from a strongly directive management style to a much more autonomous team-working approach.

"This places the achievement of plant improvement targets directly into the hands of our employees and has made a real difference to the business."

In November, BMW chief executive Helmut Panke proposed annual output increases of the Mini from 140,000 to 200,000.

Helmut Panke described the Mini as "a UK manufacturing success story".