THE chief executive of the troubled Lancashire holiday giant MyTravel, Tim Byrne, stepped down today after a disastrous week which saw more than £200 million wiped off the value of the company.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the company, more commonly known as Airtours, said Mr Byrne was leaving with immediate effect "by mutual consent".

His departure comes just days after chairman David Crossland gave his executive management team a vote of confidence despite a second profits warning in five months.

MyTravel, which employs more than 600 people at Accrington and Helmshore, also announced that Mr Crossland would be postponing his retirement to run the group.

In his statement Mr Crossland said: "Tim has made a major contribution to MyTravel over many years. He delivered record profits in his first year as Group CEO and in the last 12 months has led the company through the industry's most difficult trading environment in recent memory.

"It is with regret that we have reached this mutual decision and I thank Tim for his leadership in creating the MyTravel brand."

MyTravel's share price collapsed to an all-time low of just 70p last week after the company admitted it would not meet its profits targets. The company also warned that dividends to shareholders may be cut.

At the time, Mr Crossland, chairman and founder of the tour operator, which started life as one small shop in Burnley, threw his weight behind the management team and gave Tim Byrne a vote of confidence.

The company said a change of auditor and accounting policy had prompted the shock earnings alert.

It was the second warning of the year for UK's largest quoted holiday group, which said in May that it would be unlikely to meet expectations as a result of the downturn in world travel caused by the September 11 terror attacks on the US.

MyTravel said its auditors had told the company it was no longer correct to recognise sales relating to insurance policies at the time of booking.

Tim Byrne joined Airtours in 1993, and was appointed to the board as finance director in 1997.

He had spent most of his working life with the Granada group where he held board level positions in its hotel, theme park and television businesses.

In a boardroom shakeup two years ago, he was appointed first managing director and then chief executive officer.