NORTH-East football hero Alan Shearer is among the sports and showbusiness stars in the Queen's Birthday Honours List published today.

The 30-year-old Newcastle United striker, who receives an OBE for his services to football, has been one of the most prolific Premiership and international goalscorers in recent years.

He and other celebrities, including comic Dudley Moore and yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur, rub shoulders with unknown people who have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to their local communities.

Education features prominently in the honours. Darlington headteacher Dela Smith becomes a dame, and long-serving Chester-le-Street teacher Thomas Baker receives an MBE.

There are honours for two of the best-known figures in the North-East business world.

Peter Vardy, chairman of Sunderland-based car dealers Reg Vardy, receives a knighthood.

Harry Banks, chairman of the Banks Group of Companies, is awarded an OBE for his work in the opencast coal mining industry.

There are a crop of MBEs for those who played a major role in relief work during the floods which hit Britain earlier this year, including Janice Aspinall, from Selby, and Michael Horner, from Skipton, who both receive MBEs.

Leading the sports honours, Shearer has made 175 appearances for the Magpies since he was signed for a record £15m in 1996.

The former England captain has scored 30 international goals since his debut against France in 1992.

He said: "In the past year, I have captained the England football team, watched my first son being born, received the Freedom of the City of Newcastle and now have been awarded this honour by the Queen. I realise that I am a very fortunate man."

Former Formula One racing driver Jackie Stewart receives a knighthood, and football commentator John Motson gets an OBE.

Stewart, 63, was one of the world's most successful racing drivers, having won the world championship three times.

He said: "This is more important than my first win or winning a world championship or my victory as a team owner."

Dudley Moore, 66, heads an array of showbusiness winners with a CBE.

Moore, who is suffering from a degenerative brain disease, made his name in his the 1960s with comedy partner the late Peter Cook.

Christopher Lee, famous for his horror film roles, is awarded a CBE while Pauline Collins, who won an Oscar nomination for her role in Shirley Valentine, becomes an OBE.

There is also an OBE for Bert Weedon, the veteran guitarist and a knighthood for TV veteran Bill Cotton.

Fashion designer John Galliano receives a CBE and celebrated flautist James Galway is awarded a knighthood.

There is a CBE for Simon Schama, who wrote and presented the acclaimed BBC series A History of Britain, and an OBE for Ben Okri, the Booker Prize-winning author.

The Oscar-winning film director, Anthony Mingella, who was acclaimed for his films The English Patient and the Talented Mr Ripley, gets a CBE.

Yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur, who won the hearts of the nation and the French for her heroic performance when she came second in the Vendee Globe single-handed non-stop round-the-world race, receives an MBE.

It took her 94 days, well inside the old record, and made her the fastest woman yet to complete the course. A TV film, showing her heights of ecstasy and depths of despair during that epic voyage, made her a national treasure.

She said she was "delighted and honoured" by the award.

There is an MBE for Christine Janes, who as Christine Truman was once Britain's best-loved tennis player. She reached the 1957 Wimbledon semi-finals at the age of 16, and two years later she reached the Wimbledon final after taking the French and Italian titles.

Barry Cryer, comedy script-writer, who has written for almost every top comic from Bob Hope to Jasper Carrott, gets an OBE.

There is a CBE for the photographer David Bailey. His photographs of Jean "The Shrimp" Shrimpton, the model, in 1962 earned him international acclaim.