Architect Professor Will Alsop, who designed Marseille's regional government building and Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre, will be honoured.

King's Lynn racing car driver Martin Brundle will also receive the degree.

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti will join them at the annual presentation in Norwich this summer.

Northampton born Will Alsop is well-known for his use of vivid colours and unusual forms.

Human rights

His design for Peckham Library won the Stirling Prize in 2000 and in his book SuperCity, he describes his vision of a futuristic conurbation stretching along the M62 from Liverpool to Hull.

Martin Brundle first came to prominence in the early 1980s when he went head-to-head with the legendary Ayrton Senna in an epic battle for the Formula 3 crown.

He subsequently raced in Formula 1 for the Williams, McLaren, Jordan, Brabham and Benneton Ford teams. In 1990 Brundle won the Le Mans 24-hour race with Jaguar.

Shami Chakrabarti has been director of pressure group Liberty for four years, working for a "culture of respect for human rights", she said.

She has spent two years campaigning against the new anti-terrorist measures which followed the 9/11 attacks on the US.