Ananova:

A secret list of 300 top people who have snubbed the honours system by refusing knighthoods and other awards has been revealed.

David Bowie, Nigella Lawson and Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are among those who have refused honours, it was claimed.

Bowie declined a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours of 2000 while Lawson, rejected an OBE offered in 2001 for her "services to journalism and to cookery".

French and Saunders turned down OBEs "for services to comedy drama" in the same year. The information, covering more than 40 years, is in secret Whitehall files leaked to The Sunday Times. The reasons for refusing are not recorded. An inquiry to find the source of the leak is now under way.

Novelist JG Ballard, Honor Blackman and George Melly have all turned down honours under Blair, but the documents include the names of scores of famous people who have declined honours offered by prime ministers on behalf of the Queen since the Second World War.

Compiled by the Cabinet Office's ceremonial branch, the list of almost 300 names includes author Graham Greene, artist David Hockney, writer John le Carre, poet Robert Graves, author Aldous Huxley and writer and journalist Evelyn Waugh.

Other names on the list include writer J B Priestley, novellist Anthony Powell, Roald Dahl, poet Philip Larkin, as well as actors Trevor Howard and Alastair Sim.

LS Lowry, the painter, appears to have turned down more than anyone - a total of five awards including a knighthood, CBE and OBE. Actor Albert Finney not only rejected a knighthood in 2000 but the documents show he also turned down a CBE in 1980.

Even film director Alfred Hitchcock refused a CBE in 1962, although he accepted a knighthood shortly before he died according to the newspaper.

Under John Major, the list of "refuseniks" included the playwright Alan Bennett, who turned down a knighthood and John Cleese who turned down a CBE, and Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One racing boss and would-be Labour Party donor, turned down a CBE "for services to motor racing".