THERE was corporate joy in many of East Lancashire's boardrooms after local shares soared in April after months of doom and gloom.

The East Lancashire Index - made up of companies based in the area or with a strong local presence - rose by more than 13 per cent over the month.

Fears of a drawn-out war in Iraq that had hit share prices in March evaporated with the ending of hostilities and many local shares remain under- valued.

The indisputable leader of the risers' board was the beleaguered holiday group MyTravel whose share price jumped 78 per cent to 16p.

The rise followed a statement by the group, formerly known as Airtours, that it expects to complete its refinancing by mid to late June.

Chief executive Peter McHugh said the company was in talks over the long-term refinancing of its debts which now stand at more than £1billion. He was also upbeat about current trading, saying only 40 per cent of its summer capacity was so far unsold.

Another company in trouble is Salterforth-based beds to furniture group Silentnight Holding. Yet despite announcing a £12 million loss for the last year - contrasting to a £12 million profit the previous year - shares in the company rose 15 per cent to 121p.

Silentnight pinned the blame firmly on its Ducal and Parker Knoll furniture businesses which it acquired in 2000 for more than £40 million.

Chairman Roger Pedder promised a 'fundamental restructuring' of the furniture division which includes the closure of three factories in Andover, Chipping Norton and Edmonton.

While the beds division, which includes Silentnight at Barnoldswick, remained highly profitable, the group warned that trading conditions remained difficult.

The Blackburn-based Scapa group, in freefall for much of the past year, recovered some lost ground to start the month on 17p per share, a rise of 31 per cent.

Also on the up was Ultraframe, the Clitheroe-based conservatory manufacturer, whose shares are finally recovering from the twin profits warnings of 2001. They began the month at 236p, a rise of 15 per cent.

Leyland-based support services group Enterprise plc rose to 257p, up by nine per cent, after chairman Owen McLaughlin was in upbeat mood at the company annual general meeting about the company's prospects.

Inter Link Foods was back in positive territory at 315p and Findel, which owns Express Gifts at Accrington and Nelson, was up 10 per cent at 217p.

At the other end of the scale, the Clayton-le-Moors carpets group Gaskell slipped back a further 17 per cent to a new all-time low of 10p per share, valuing the company at just £2.6 million.

On the junior OFEX market, Blackburn's Millbrook Scientific Instruments doubled its share price to 8p and financial services specialist Berkeley Morgan saw its share price rise 38 per cent to 55p. Shares in Blackburn brewers Daniel Thwaites were level at 120p.