ARMED US Secret Service agents were on the streets of Oxford yesterday as former US President Jimmy Carter was awarded an honorary degree.

The 83-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was one of eight people honoured at Oxford University's annual Encaenia ceremony.

Mr Carter, who led the US from 1976 to 1980, said he was "delighted to be in the city of the dreaming spires" and was "absolutely enjoying his time here".

He added: "It's an honour to be receiving this award."

Encaenia is an Ancient Greek word for a festival of renewal.

Flanked by dark-suited, sunglass-wearing bodyguards, Mr Carter paraded with his fellow degree recipients - and about 200 university dons - from Brasenose College to the Sheldonian Theatre, in Broad Street, where the ceremony took place.

There was a stark contrast between the parade and a noisy animal rights demonstration being staged just metres away from the theatre entrance.

Protesters from Speak repeatedly chanted "shame, shame, shame on you" and "stop the Oxford animal lab" as the parade processed from a signing ceremony at Divinity School for the 45-minute-long degree ceremony.

Afterwards, those who had received honorary degrees paraded to All Souls College for lunch There was no repetition of last year's clashes between demonstrators and police, which resulted in 14 arrests - although all were cleared after a subsequent court case.

Supt Jim Trotman, the police area commander for Oxford, said there had been no arrests yesterday.

Mr Trotman added: "We didn't feel we needed a high level of policing present, although obviously we had contingency plans in place.

"We worked closely with the American Secret Service and they were involved in some of the planning, because clearly Jimmy Carter is an important global figure and they had to make sure he was protected."

Speak spokesman Mel Broughton said: "It was a very good opportunity to get the message across."

Those who received honourary degrees, included:

Baroness Hale of Richmond: A leading lawyer and expert on family and social welfare law. In 2004 she became the first female Law Lord.

Dame Antonia Byatt: Her novels range across disciplines and cultural forms and include the Booker Prize-winning Possession, Angels and Insects and The Biographer's Tale.

Sir Clive Granger: A mathematician, statistician and economist who studied and then lectured at Nottingham University.

In 2003 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his development of a concept known as co-integration.

Daniel Barenboim: He has regularly toured the world as a musician and orchestra conductor. In 1999 he co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Workshop to bring together young musicans from Israel and Arab countries.