John Beckwith has been awarded the top honour in the New Year Honours, receiving a knighthood for services to youth sport.

The successful business tycoon, who will become Sir John, helped establish the Youth Sports Trust in 1994.

The charitable body aims to provide access for sport to young people across the country and to identify and nurture talented young sports stars.

The Trust has secured around �20m in funding since its formation.

Beckwith has personally given more than �1m to set up the Institute of Youth Sport and the Beckwith Professorship of Youth Sport at Loughborough University.

A keen sportsman, he has run four marathons and is a member of the MCC, Queen's Club, Berkshire Royal Golf Club and Rosslyn Park rugby union club.

Oympic medalist

Dorothy Tyler, 81, who won silver medals in the high jump at the 1936 and 1948 Olympics, was awarded an MBE.

She won silver at the Berlin Olympics at the age of 16 as Dorothy Odam before becoming involved in World War II driving a Royal Air Force lorry for the Dambuster Squadron.

Twelve years after her first Olympics, after marrying and having two sons, Tyler won a second silver medal in the high jump in London.

Both times she jumped the same height as the winner, but missed out through jump-offs.

Tyler also competed at the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Former MP

Also recognised in the list is Martin Brandon-Bravo, who is awarded an OBE for services to rowing.

The former Conservative MP became president of the Amateur Rowing Association in 1993.

He has being heavily involved in Project Oarsome, a scheme to forge links between rowing clubs and local schools.

And there is an MBE for former referee James Fleming for services to Rugby Union.

Fleming, who retired six months ago, officiated at more than 40 internationals and became Scotland's most capped referee.

He said: "I am absolutely over the moon. This is a bolt from the blue."

There is also an MBE for one of the country's pre-eminent mountaineers, Allen Fyffe.

The Secretary of the Scottish Mountain Leadership Training Board at Glenmore, he is probably the most knowledgeable expert in the world on the Cairngorms.

Other sporting MBEs go to:

• Reginald Lomas, head groundsman at Cheltenham Racecourse for services to horseracing
• Susan McKiernan from Sheffield, for services to disabled sport
• Ann Saunders, from Newbury, for services to the Jockeys' Association of Great Britain
• Joseph Lawrence, from Bradford, for services to disabled people and to wheelchair sport