Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson, left, collected her latest honour at a degree ceremony at the weekend.

The athlete, from Redcar, broke off preparations for her latest medal bid in the Athens Paralympics to be conferred with an honorary degree from the Open University.

Mrs Grey-Thompson was guest of honour at the Open University's regional degree ceremony at Newcastle City Hall.

The regional director of the Open University in the North, John Shipley, who conferred the degree, hailed her achievements as second to none in the disability sport arena.

He said the award recognised her world class performance at distances ranging from 100m to the marathon over the past 14 years.

Her roll of honour includes 13 Paralympic medals, six golds in the London Marathon and a comprehensive set of British and world records.