Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey leads New Year Honours

The champion cyclist said she was "extremely proud"

Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey, who won four gold medals at the London 2012 Games, has been made a dame in the New Year Honours list.

The 35-year-old from Disley in Cheshire said the honour was "beyond anything I could have ever imagined".

Bolton's double Olympic gold winner Jason Kenny has been appointed OBE.

Other local recipients include Holocaust survivor Mayer Hersh, appointed OBE, and Christie Hospital's Caroline Shaw, who has been made a CBE.

Storey, who won four Paralympic cycling titles in London to add to the two she won at the 2008 Beijing Games, has received the honour for her services to para-cycling.

She also holds five Paralympic swimming titles, which she won before swapping the pool for the cycling track following a series of ear infections.

'Incredibly honoured'

She said to compete for her country was a "huge honour in itself" and she "never expected any additional awards after my sporting success".

"I cannot thank my family, friends, coaches and support staff enough for their devotion in helping me to follow the path of becoming the best athlete I can possibly be.

"I am speechless but incredibly honoured and extremely proud to be able to accept the DBE."

Alongside Storey and Kenny, several other cyclists and para-cyclists based at Manchester's Velodrome have also been honoured.

They include TeamGB's cycling coach, David Brailsford, who has been knighted, Olympic Keirin gold medallist Victoria Pendleton, who has been appointed CBE, and Paralympic cyclist Neil Fachie, who rides with Storey's husband Barney as a pilot, who has been appointed MBE.

'Greatly appreciated'

Off the track, Macclesfield-born Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie has been knighted, Leigh's Paralympic gold medal swimmer Heather Frederiksen has been appointed OBE, and Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones, who is based in Manchester, has been appointed MBE.

Ms Shaw said her CBE award was a "fantastic recognition of the hospital"

Away from sport, Tameside-born MP Margaret Beckett has been made a dame for her public and political service and choreographer Arlene Phillips, who grew up in the city, has become a CBE for services to dance and to charity.

Mrs Beckett, who began her political career at the University of Manchester Students' Union, said she saw the honour as "a recognition of all the work I've been able to be part of in politics, which is greatly appreciated".

Alongside Ms Philips and Ms Shaw, the principal of Mid Cheshire College, John Reilly, and Philip Shapiro, who chaired the board at Manchester's visual arts and film centre Cornerhouse, have been appointed CBE for services to further education and to the arts respectively.

Ms Shaw, who has been chief executive at the specialist cancer hospital in Manchester since 2005 and received her CBE for services to the NHS, said the honour had left her "pleased both personally and also for the Christie".

"It's fantastic recognition of the hospital and what we are doing here in Manchester."

Mr Hersh, who survived incarceration in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during WWII before settling in Manchester, has been honoured with an OBE for services to Holocaust education.