Shilpa Shetty, easily the most popular Indian in Britain thanks to her performance on reality show Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year, will be awarded a honorary doctorate by the Leeds Metropolitan University on Wednesday.

The award will be conferred on her as part of the university's summer graduation celebrations, and is in recognition of her contribution to cultural diversity and good relations between the people of India and the UK.

In June, the university had conferred similar doctorates on India's Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Indian film personalities Amitabh Bachchan, Yash Chopra and Shabana Azmi.

Shetty was in Leeds in June for the annual IIFA awards. The Leeds Metropolitan University is the official education partner of IIFA, offering students and staff the chance to rub shoulders with champions of Indian Cinema, particularly through the university's Northern Film School.

The university is also in the process of establishing two academic chairs: the IIFA Chair for Global Cinema, and an India 60 Chair celebrating 60 years of Indian independence.