Westminster Hall open all night as Queen Mother queues grow

Westminster Hall will be open all night because of the massive number of people wanting to pay their respects to the Queen Mother.

There is a seven-hour wait to get into Westminster Hall where the Queen Mother is lying in state.

The original limited opening times have been relaxed because of the tens of thousands of people wanting to pay their respects. The queue is now three miles long. The Hall will be open on both Saturday and Sunday nights.

Police are advising people to wrap up warm and to take refreshments with them.

The number of people wanting to view the Queen Mother lying in state has surprised officials.

Sir Michael Willcocks, who as Black Rod is responsible for all ceremonial and security matters at the Palace of Westminster, said: "The surprising thing is that even in the early hours of the morning, there were more than 2,000 people waiting to go in."

He said plans had been made for a high turnout but organisers did not know in advance whether television coverage would dampen the public appetite for turning up in person to pay their respects.

"We did not know what the effect would be because the last time, for King George VI, it was in the early days of television. We always had the organisation and capacity to cope with it. It was a question of would the public turn up - and they did, in their thousands.

"I'm pretty sure we will be open all night tonight. We are not about to disappoint the public and turn them away. If they want to be there, it will be open. If the demand is there, it will be open all hours."

He said that even with round-the-clock opening, the Hall would have to briefly close for a two hour period during the early morning for maintenance purposes.