UPDATE 1-Italy to freeze road tolls until end April

* No changes to Italy toll road contracts

* Price freezes only for four months

* Atlantia shares rise

ROME, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Italy wants to freeze highway tariffs for just the first four months of 2009 but will leave contracts untouched, Italian Transport Minister Altero Matteoli said at a meeting of the AISCAT group of toll road operators.

The block, which is expected to be announced on Friday, is part of measures including price freezes on other utility charges which the government is introducing to help people cope with the global credit crunch.

Shares in Atlantia (ATL.MI), the country's biggest toll road operator, were up 4.67 percent to 12.56 euros by 1241 GMT as the index of Milan's leading shares .SPMIB gained 1.4 percent.

There had been concerns that contracts might be altered or that the tariff freeze might be for longer.

"Given that we want to freeze all tariffs we would have had a bit of a problem not freezing road tolls. It's a question of image, too," Matteoli said at the meeting on Thursday.

AISCAT Chairman Fabrizio Palenzona said at the same meeting that toll-road operators would not oppose the tariff freeze as long as contracts were respected.

Matteoli said there was no plan to change contracts.

"The sacrifice asked of you is on the price freeze but contracts will stay the same, no-one wants to touch the contracts," Matteoli said.

(Reporting by Stefano Bernabei; Writing by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by Erica Billingham)