LEADING the North Yorkshire awards in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, published today, is the county's newest knight, Sir Robert Ogden.

The businessman is knighted for charitable services to Yorkshire, and tops a varied list of the county's great and good who are honoured today.

Hailed as the United Kingdom's leading owner of National Hunt racehorses, Sir Robert, who lives at Sicklinghall, near Wetherby, is founder and chairman of the Ogden Group of Companies, involved in land and property.

Sir Robert, who became a CBE in 1983, is also a major benefactor to Yorkshire charities.

He jointly funded with Macmillan Cancer Relief a Cancer Resource Centre at St James's Hospital, Leeds, and established a school for autistic children in Barnsley.

He told the Evening Press: "This knighthood is a tremendous personal honour, of which I am very proud.

"However, it is also, I believe, recognition of the excellent work done by the charities with which I have had the great privilege of being involved."

The former chairman of the North Yorkshire Training and Enterprise Council today received a CBE.

Christopher Ivory, who chaired the TEC for ten years up to its replacement by the new Learning and Skills Councils earlier this year, said he was "delighted".

But he added: "I'm pleased for everyone at the TEC, who achieved a superb result over our ten years.

"We helped 45,000 young people, 15,000 adults, and helped to start 15,000 new businesses. It was a group effort." Mr Ivory was formerly chief executive of Dalepak Foods, and he went on to found his own company, Ivory Foods, in 1996.

John Bostock, chairman of North Yorkshire's Magistrates Courts Committee, becomes an MBE. Mr Bostock, of Sawley, near Ripon, has been a magistrate for nearly 30 years, and retires from the committee next March.

His award is for services to the community, especially magistrates, in Ripon, although he now sits at Harrogate Magistrates Court.

Updated: 09:58 Saturday, June 16, 2001