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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Matthew Dresch & Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Queen queue tracker LIVE: Queue to see coffin shuts AGAIN just hours after reopening

Brits hoping to view the Queen's coffin are unable to join the queue again as it has reached capacity and shut for a second time today.

It follows warnings it would take mourners 22 hours to pay their respects.

A live feed set up by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport shows how this morning the line to see the monarch was at capacity and they were turning people away.

But an announcement confirmed well-wishers could join and were told to wrap up warm with overnight temperatures about the plummet.

However, later this evening, hours after it re-opened, the line has shut once more.

Previously, at 7pm they said: "Entry to the queue has resumed. Expected queuing time is over 24 hours and overnight temperatures will be cold.

"The queue may be paused again if it reaches capacity."

People queue near Tower Bridge to pay their respects (REUTERS)

But then later this evening shortly before 10pm it was shut along with the accessible queue where it was announced that the latter wouldn't reopen until midday tomorrow, with all slots until then full.

They added: "For everyone's comfort, please do not attempt to join the accessible queue before midday tomorrow."

The tracker can be viewed above - and there's been 120 minutes shaved off the wait time, with now a 22 hours expected.

Ambulance teams have treated 435 members of the public along the route of the queue to see the Queen lying in state and surrounding areas over the past two days.

Some 291 people along the route of the queue and nearby in London were given medical assistance on Wednesday, with 17 needing hospital treatment, London Ambulance Service said.

A further 144 people were treated on Thursday, with 25 people being taken to hospital.
The LAS said the majority of incidents attended were faints and collapses, resulting in head injuries.

This morning it was said the queue was to be shut temporarily for at least six hours.

The queue is currently nine hours long (REUTERS)

In a Twitter post, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport wrote: "Southwark Park has reached capacity. Entry will be paused for at least 6 hours.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience. Please do not attempt to join the queue until it re-opens."."

It comes after Tory ministers warned that mourners could face five-mile queues and 30-hour waits to see Her Majesty lying in state in Westminster Hall.

Brits will be able to view the Queen's coffin until Monday morning, when her funeral is due to take place.

Many mourners braved the elements overnight as they waited in line to pay their respects to the monarch.

Members of the public were welcomed into Westminster Hall to view the Queen's coffin on Wednesday afternoon.

However, some had been queueing from as early as Monday to get in line on Albert Embankment.

Members of the public file past the Queen's coffin (Getty Images)

Officials are expecting upwards of 750,000 people to go and see the coffin.

The line has stretched along the south bank of the River Thames, past landmarks such as Tower Bridge and a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, crossing Lambeth Bridge as it neared Westminster Hall.

The largely black-clad crowd were solemn and pensive as they began to flow into the ancient hall where chandeliers and spotlights illuminated the scene beneath the medieval timber roof.

As ordinary people of all ages filed past the coffin of the long-reigning monarch, many wiped their eyes with tissues.

Some bowed, some curtsied and some simply took a moment to look at the extraordinary scene.

Penny Purnell, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, said seeing the Queen lying in state drove home that she "really has gone", adding: "That was quite hard to take."

Ms Purnell and her friend Jill Scudamore, also aged over 65, joined the queue at about 11am on Wednesday and waited six hours to pay their respects.

Ms Purnell described the "grandeur" of the hall and the atmosphere as "very moving" speaking afterwards.

Her Majesty is lying in state in Westminster Hall (Getty Images)

She said: "It was just the thoughts in our head of appreciating her really. I didn't really want to say goodbye, so I didn't."

Ms Scudamore said: "If anyone is willing to take the time to join the queue it is well worth the wait."

Amma, in her 50s, from south London, said she broke down in tears as she paid her respects to the Queen.

She said she had been a fan of the Queen since she was six and waited for hours to say goodbye.

Ministers warned that people could face 30-hour waits (via REUTERS)

"If I had had to wait until tomorrow morning or Friday, so be it," she said, adding that she came prepared with a change of clothes, food and an umbrella.

"I'm still shocked that our Queen has sadly passed on," she added.

"As I went closer to where Her Majesty was lying there, I did curtsy, I said thank you in my mind. I broke down in tears as I walked away from her."

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