LONDON. Apr 6: The London Stock Exchange was paralysed by its worst ever computer system failure yesterday before’ finally opening nearly eight hours late, says Reuters.

A spokesman for the exchange said the problem, which crippled the supply of prices and company information, was caused by corrupt data. He gave no further details.

To compensate for the record late start at 3.45 pm. against the usual 8.00 am. the exchange said it was extending the trading day by two hours to 6.30 pm (1730 GMT).

* Dealers were outraged by the faAjt — the second this week — wl|ich came on the last day of the tax year and Just hours after violent price swings in US stock markets where leading indices lurched in ranges as big as 15 per cent.

"This has been dreadful. It's the worst I can remember... This is a market in extremis." said Barclays Stockbrokers'

corporate development director ' Justin Urquhart Stewart.

The Financial Services Au- i thority watchdog, which supervises the LSE. said it viewed the failure seriously, adding it would insist any necessary changes to systems and back-up arrangements were made immediately. and that lessons were "learned rapidly and made public."

LSE Chief Executive Gavin Casey was contrite and said the exchange was working to ensure the breakdown was not repeated.

"We very much regret the disruption that market users have experienced during the course of the day." he said.

"As a result of today's breakdown. extensive work is being undertaken not only to ensure that the immediate problem has been resolved satisfactorily. but also to take whatever additional steps are required to ensure that the system Is robust and reliable for the future."