Disabled people wanting to pay their respects to the Queen had reported waiting for hours after the accessible queue, which had been temporarily closed, reopened earlier on Saturday. The line had built up while it was closed and stretched for several miles until it reopened at noon. In a statement the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “The accessible sunbed queue in the state has reached capacity and is now permanently closed. “Wristbands for all time periods are available so that as many people as possible can pay their respects. Please do not join the queue at Tate Britain. Thank you for understanding.” Just after midday, DCMS had said the accessible queue had resumed after a “pause” on Friday night. Esther Andrews, a teacher from Portsmouth who has an injured leg, said she was able to get a wristband for the 5-6 p.m. just before the accessible queue closed after waiting almost seven hours. On hearing it had closed, the 30-year-old said: “It’s such a shame, there was a huge queue of people behind us! It was about double what it was when I got into it. Much better than the main queue, but still too long for disabled people.” Earlier, Dr Erin Dooley said she was unsure whether to make the one-hour journey from her home in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, because of what she called “trivial and misleading announcements from the government”. “All my information to date has come from Twitter,” said Dooley, a lecturer at the University of Bristol. “An online booking system would be best, an information app at a minimum. “I have to provide proof of my disability status for the most basic services like rail travel or theater tickets, why not ask people to provide disability documentation here?” Matt Batten. Photo: Charlie Moloney/The Guardian Matt Batten, a 44-year-old communications manager, said he had given up on the accessible queue after finding it wasn’t moving for about half an hour and left Westminster Hall, down Millbank and past Tate Britain, nearly two miles away. . Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Batten, who had traveled from Cardiff on Friday, said: “Clearly there is a lot of determination to join the queue but we have been speaking to a few people and they say they just couldn’t take it anymore. We saw a few disappointed people leave the queue. “I wish there was a little more reality check in the accessible queue, a little management of people’s expectations.” No proof of disability is required to use the accessible queue. Graphic Flight attendants were handing out chairs and toilets were available in some parts of the accessible queue. Although the DCMS announced that mourners should only come as one person and a carer, some people reported seeing large groups arriving, although it was unclear whether they had hidden disabilities as flight attendants did not ask for details. Many old and frail people were in the accessible queue, as well as old men and women wearing their medals.
