LANCASHIRE has supplied five of the North West's top earners, according to a new survey of Britain's richest bosses.

Sean Keogh and Owen McLaughlin, of Leyland-based Enterprise plc; John Hargreaves and Angus Munro, of Matalan; and MyTravel founder David Crossland collectively took home a grand total of £34million in 2001.

They are all in the top seven of the North West's corporate elite in the 2002 Sunday Times Pay List.

But for David Crossland, the one-time Burnley travel agent who went on to launch the international MyTravel holidays empire, the listing will ring a little hollow.

Although the survey placed him as the region's seventh highest earner on £5.8 million for 2001, his personal fortune has slumped by £145 million this year.

The company, best known as Airtours, has been in crisis over the past month and the value of the company has collapsed by more than £1billion as the share price went from £2.83 earlier this year to just 16p yesterday..

Mr Crossland still controls just over 10 per cent of MyTravel, which yesterday was valued at £8.7million.

In fourth and sixth place in the North West top earners are brothers-in-law Sean Keogh and Owen McLoughlin, chief executive and chairman of Enterprise plc, the former Lancashire County Council economic development company.

Mr Keogh collected £6.9million after selling shares in the company worth £6.3million. Mr McLaughlin took home £6.million, which included sale of shares worth £5.3million.

The duo took over Enterprise plc business two years and merged their ARM Utility Services

business into the company.

Lancashire's biggest earner was John Hargreaves, on £8.7million, who founded the Matalan discount clothing empire from a warehouse in Bamber Bridge.