STEWART PATERSON
and LAURA CHASE

The widow of a police officer killed on duty, a transport executive and a range of community volunteers are among the Scots recognised by the Queen in the birthday honours list today.

Christine Fulton, whose husband, PC Lewis Fulton, was fatally stabbed in Glasgow in 1994, is made an MBE for her work co-founding the Care of Police Survivors (Cops) charity.

Mrs Fulton, 48, of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, launched the charity in 2003 and it now supports around 250 families of officers who have died in the line of duty.

She said she was "stunned" to receive the honour. "I didn't think things like that happened to ordinary people like me," she said. "I had to read it several times, I was convinced it was some sort of prank."

Mr Fulton was killed, aged 28, as he responded to an emergency call in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. His wife went on to co-found Cops with former Strathclyde Police detective Jim McNulty, who died of leukaemia in 2004.

Mrs Fulton said setting up the charity was a way of helping others whose relatives had been killed on duty. She said: "It's about having someone to talk to that understands what you are going through. Sometimes in your darkest moments, all it takes is for somebody to say I know you will get through this'."

Moir Lockhead, chief executive of FirstGroup, which operates bus and train services across Scotland, is knighted for his work in the transport industry. Mr Lockhead, 63, said: "It is a great honour for me and my family. Most of all this honour is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of everyone at FirstGroup."

Rugby pundit Bill Beaumont was made a CBE for services to rugby and charity, while playwright Don Paterson becomes an OBE for services to literature.

Philip Dolan, 72, chairman of the Scottish Haemophilia Forum, is made an MBE.

He said: "I welcome the fact that somebody has nominated us to recognise the work we have done in Scotland. I'm pleased to get it as it gives some credibility to the work we've done for years with our campaigning."

Alfred Ingram, from Dundee, has volunteered for the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland since the 1950s and is made an MBE for services to mountain rescue in Scotland.