These are the celebrities who turned down honours as New Year's list approaches

As New Year approaches many people across the UK will be wondering which big names are set to be honoured. However while most people accept their OBE or CBE there have been plenty of people over the years who, for various reasons, have declined their award.

Thousands of people are named to the New Year's honours list each year for a whole variety of services and achievements, with this year's being revealed on December 30. Historically, when some did decline the award they generally did so without publicising the decision.

However recent years have seen more people revealing both that they refused an award, and why they did so. It is still unusual, and sometimes the reasons behind someone's decision even come from leaks from official sources, the Mirror reports.

There are also the occasions where someone might initially accept an offer, but then decide to return it later. People who have been put forward for an award are generally contacted around six weeks in advance to confirm in writing that they do wish to be nominated, as a means of avoiding any difficult scenarios.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest of any British monarch at just over 70 years on the throne, saw many thousands of people recognised. Official numbers from 2012 show that between 1951 and 1999 some 277 people had declined new year or birthday honours.

There are some big names on the list, and people have declined the award for many reasons. Some did so due to their personal beliefs, others because they didn't feel that the award to deserved.

In the UK we have five different honours, starting with an MBE, then an OBE and a CBE. Finally you can have a KBE or DBE, meaning Knight or Dame Commander, and then a GBE meaning Knight or Dame Grand