MOURNERS from south Essex say it was “absolutely worth” queueing for hours on end in the cold to get a sight of the Queen’s coffin lying-in-state.

The Queen's lying in state, in which her closed coffin has been placed on view to the public at Westminster Hall since Wednesday, came to an end in the early hours of Monday morning.

An estimated 300,000 people queued to pay their respects, with the wait time reaching an estimated 17 hours at points.

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Debbie Verlander, 60, of Benfleet, queued for more than 12 hours through Friday night.

“The atmosphere was just wonderful, so many people of all ages,” she said.

“A young Chinese couple with their little girl in a buggy walked with us in our ‘queue family’ along with a guy from Liverpool and two couples from Surrey.”

Ms Verlander and her friend Tony Melhuish joined the queued at 3.30pm on Friday. It wasn’t until just after 4am on Saturday that they got into Westminster Hall.

“It really was surreal once inside, the truly magnificent splendour of the building, how silent it was with so many people in there,” she said.

It was very emotional to think she was laying there, then seeing the crown and sceptre on top which are usually behind alarmed glass cabinets that was breath-taking.”

Despite queuing for more than 12 hours in the cold, Ms Verlander, who considers herself a royal super fan, says it was “worth every step of the way”.

“It was fantastic. Thank you to everyone that volunteered their time to marshal the route, security, police, firefighters, scouts to name but a few.”

Barbra Hall, 64, of Daws Heath, said it was one of the most “poignant” experiences of her life.

“I just knew I had to go down to say goodbye to her,” she said.

“It was so poignant inside that hall once we finally made it.”

Ms Hall queued for 15 hours – arriving at 3am on Saturday and making it inside Westminster Hall just after 8pm.

“Everyone was deeply upset about her passing, but there was also an upbeat atmosphere in the queue.

“You could see the positive side, bringing all of these people together from across the country who would not have met before.”