The courage displayed by the parents of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence is rewarded in the Queen's New Year Honours List published today.

Neville and Doreen Lawrence, whose dignity and persistence in the face of tragedy, bitter disillusionment and disappointment won over the nation's hearts, each become an OBE for services to community relations.

Mr and Mrs Lawrence are co-founders of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.

Their son was viciously stabbed to death at a bus stop by a gang of racists in an unprovoked attack in south London in 1993.

No one has been convicted of the crime.

The vicar of St Andrew's Church, Soham, the Reverend Tim Alban Jones, who was highly praised for his pastoral work and care following the deaths of tragic schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman last August, has been honoured by becoming an MBE for services to the community.

At the time he said: "I am someone the families can listen to, talk to, pray with and cry with and that is what I have been doing.

"Something appallingly dark has happened in Soham and it may shake people's faith, even their belief in God.

"I would say God is suffering with those who suffer.

"But the way people have come together shows that the light will overcome darkness."

In the world of showbusiness, Jean Simmons, now 73, becomes an OBE in the Diplomatic List.

Actress Brenda Blethyn, currently starring in the West End production of George Bernard Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession, has been made an OBE, as has Edward Fox, famous for playing patrician characters, notably Edward VIII in TV's Edward And Mrs Simpson in 1978.

His other successes include starring roles in films such as The Day Of The Jackal, A Bridge Too Far and The Duellists.

Alan Bates, one of the most important British actors to emerge during the Sixties, becomes a knight.

He made his reputation as one of the original "angry young men" of the post-war English theatre.

Zany Brummie Jasper Carrott, rated one of the funniest men on television, becomes an OBE.

He is regarded as in a class of his own as a stand-up comedian but he also starred in The Detectives with Robert Powell, about a pair of bungling sleuths.

Carrott, who is listed with his real name, Robert Davis, gets the award for charitable services.

Rick Stein, the charismatic Cornishman who has become a byword for excellence in seafood cookery, becomes an OBE.

There is also a knighthood for film director and producer Ridley Scott.

Among his most recent triumphs was Gladiator, a Roman epic starring Russell Crowe which earnt five Oscar awards.

The following year he created Hannibal,the sequel to Silence Of The Lambs, with Sir Anthony Hopkins returning as Hannibal Lecter.