Lying in state continues until morning of funeral service

The public will be allowed to view the lying in state of the Queen Mother until morning of her funeral service.

Westminster Hall, where her coffin has been since April 5, will remain open until 6am on Tuesday - only five hours before it is carried in procession to nearby Westminster Abbey.

The decision to allow the public to pay their respects until the latest possible moment was made as it was announced that it was estimated that by mid-morning today 100,000 people had filed through the hall in tribute to the Queen Mother.

A spokesman for Black Rod's office in the Palace of Westminster said the decision to continue the viewing of the lying-in-state, with only a two-hour gap between 6am and 8am on Monday, was made because of the huge numbers of people still joining the queue.

People were still joining the end of the line, near Blackfriars Bridge on the south bank of the Thames, in their thousands this morning, although they were being warned that they faced a wait of up to 12 hours.

Scotland Yard was advising people wishing to join the queue to travel to Blackfriars Bridge - nearly two miles from Westminster Hall.

Ambulance staff warned that people should be prepared for a long, cold wait.

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We are advising people to wrap up warmly and bring a hot drink.

"The queue is massive and we do not think people realise quite how long the wait is and how cold they can get standing there. For their own sake, they should wrap up warm."