Mr Crossland built the company from scratch

Mr Crossland had originally planned to go last November but put off his retirement when the company hit a financial crisis last year.

His deputy, Eric Sanderson, is to take over as non-executive chairman.

Last year, MyTravel racked up annual losses of �72.8m.

Steadying nerves

The Rochdale-based company was also forced to restate its profits for the previous year when a black hole was discovered in its accounts.

MyTravel brands Going Places Late Escapes Airtours holidays Cresta Aspro Bridge

Instead of the �81m profit announced in 2001, MyTravel said it actually made only �62m.

The company was given a reprieve by its banks in November to allow it to continue trading until the end of 2003.

At the same time, Mr Crossland said he would postpone his retirement, steadying investors' nerves.

Mr Crossland started the business 30 years ago when he bought a Lancashire travel agency which had two stores.

By 1980 he had built up the travel agency and started offering package holidays.

When Airtours floated on the London stock market in 1987 its shares stood at 180p.

At one point it was the world's biggest holiday business, worth �2bn. It currently has a market capitalisation of �74.2m.

MyTravel shares gained 3.3% to 15.5p in early trade on Friday.