Two men who played pivotal roles during the summer floods in Oxfordshire have been recognised in the New Year's honours list.

John Kelly, Oxfordshire County Council's emergency planning officer, has been made a Member of the British Empire, while chief fire officer John Parry has been awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal for distinguished service.

Mr Kelly, 61, was unavailable for comment, but in October he suggested he and his team could have declared the situation a major incident much quicker.

However, he won widespread praise for the way in which his team handled a situation that changed almost by the hour.

Meanwhile, father-of-two Mr Parry, 51, a firefighter for 28 years, received his award for a distinguished career that has seen him serve in four different brigades.

He said: "This is recognition for the standing of Oxfordshire fire and rescue service.

"The summer flooding was the biggest operation in our fire service history and it went as well as could be expected."

The artistic director of Oxford's Pegasus Theatre, 49-year-old Euton Daley, has received an MBE after working with young people at the Magdalen Road theatre for more than 17 years.

The father-of-three from Cowley first found out he would receive an MBE about a month ago and he said: "I was incredibly chuffed. It was totally unexpected. I took an inward breath and then wondered whether it was real or not.

"It is the sort of work you do not expect to get an award for - it is not mainstream television or mainstream theatre. I do not know why I have been picked out. I have always been dedicated to working with young people. It is probably a recognition of that."

He took his role at the Pegasus Theatre in 1990 and, under his direction, its youth and community arts programme has bloss- omed.

His next task is to help fundraise for the £6.3m renovation of the theatre.

Vickie Holcroft, who masterminded the relocation of the Radcliffe Infirmary to the John Radcliffe hospital site and the building of the Oxford Children's Hospital, has been awarded an MBE.

Mrs Holcroft, projects director for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, said: "This came absolutely out of the blue."

Mrs Holcroft, who lived in Begbroke before moving to Benson to be nearer her daughter and grandchildren, got her award for services to the National Health Service.

Her current major project is the £109m cancer centre at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

She said: "It has been a heavy responsibility, but a fantastic responsibility."

Internationally renowned church leader, The Rev David Coffey, has been honoured for his services to inter-faith relations, with an OBE.

The father-of-two, from Saxons Way in Didcot, has spent most of his life devoted to promoting religious and cultural understanding between different faiths and touring the world in a number of high-profile posts.

Currently president of the Baptist World Alliance, Mr Coffey said: "It is a recognition of great work that is done by the thousands of baptists and unsung heroes who will not appear on any honours list, but who we would be lost without."

Jim Flux, who has been made an MBE, seems to have done everything since he took early retirement at 55.

But his award is for services to the community in Banbury and his home village Deddington, where he has been a key figure in schemes to help the elderly and vulnerable in society.

One of his proudest achievements, he says, is setting up the first care centre in the country at Banbury for the Princess Royal's Trust for Carers.

Community-spirited Barbara Vaughan, who spearheaded a campaign to revive her local shop and village hall, has been awarded an MBE.

Ms Vaughan, from Nethercote Road in Tackley, was spurred into action in 2001 when the village shop closed.

Together with other residents, Ms Vaughan helped raise £400,000 to kickstart an innovative project which combines a shop, village hall, post office and coffee shop.

Ms Vaughan, 62, said: "I am so proud of the people in the village that make this project possible."

Other people who have received honours include: Prof John Bell, 53, from Thames Street, Wallingford, has been knighted for services to medicine.

Prof Bell, 53, is an expert in the field of genetics and genomes and is Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and a member of the council of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Grandmother Margaret Bent, 67, from Church Way, Iffley, Oxford, who has devoted her life to researching the music of the Middle Ages, was awarded a CBE.

Mrs Bent, senior research fellow at All Souls College, was given the honour for services to musicology.

Prof Kay Davies, CBE, head of anatomy and co-director of the Oxford Centre for Gene Function at the University of Oxford, becomes a DBE for services to science.

Prof Michael Noble, OBE, professor of social policy at the University of Oxford, is made a CBE for services to social research on poverty and deprivation.

Prof Brian Spratt, 60, a former professor in biology at Oxford University, has been awarded a CBE for services to science.

Dr Peter Neumann, of Meadow Lane, Oxford, a tutor in mathematics at The Queen's College, Oxford, and chair of the UK Maths Trust, has been given an OBE for services to education.

Sandra Quick, known mainly as Gretel, of Austin Place in Abingdon, received an MBE for her work as disability and employment adviser at Jobcentre Plus.

Two serving officers at RAF Brize Norton have been recognised. Wing Commander Paul McSherry receives the OBE and Squadron Leader Keith Hewitt the MBE.

And Prof Robert Cassen, emeritus fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford, receives an OBE for services to education.