A £600 million investment by BMW is set to secure jobs at its Swindon and Oxford factories.

The German car manufacturer is expected to announce that it will be spending a large sum of money to produce a new generation of electric cars at its site in Cowley from 2026.

The move is expected to safeguard the future of the facility as well as the future of the plant on Bridge End Road in Swindon.

More than 4,000 people currently work across the two sites.

BMW is expected to say it will build additional logistics facilities at the Swindon factory, which makes body panels for new vehicles, and at the Oxfordshire plant.

There are also plans to update the Cowley facility by developing the production lines, extending its body shop, and building a new area for installing batteries.

This will allow two next-generation electric designs - the Mini Cooper and the larger Mini Aceman - to be built at Cowley alongside conventional cars.

A third electric model, the Countryman, will be made in Germany.

Last week, BMW told the Oxford Mail that it would be reducing the amount of temporary staff required in Oxford due to a change in shift pattern as it phases out old vehicle models and builds up to new ones in the new year.

A spokesperson for the car giant said that it is doing everything possible to retain as many people as possible within the business and did not comment on whether the shift would affect jobs in Swindon.

The UK investment will be backed by funding from the government's Automotive Transformation Fund, which is understood to be worth £75m.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said BMW's investment was "another shining example of how the UK is the best place to build cars of the future".

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said it showed "the government's plan for the automotive sector is working".

The first electric Mini was launched at the Cowley plant in 2019, but last year, the company confirmed that production of most of its electric cars would move to China.

At the time, BMW suggested that building both conventionally-fuelled and electric cars in the same factory was inefficient, but that plan has clearly changed now.

Production of the new models will begin next year at Great Wall's factory in Zhangjiagang, and production at Cowley is expected to begin in 2026.