Queen Elizabeth death: Queues to lying-in-state reopened after 7 hours

Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II. Photo / AP

Entry to the queue to see Queen Elizabeth lying in state has been reopened after seven hours.

Members of the public wanting to pay their respects to the late monarch - who died on September 8 aged 96 - at Westminster Hall were told by government officials shortly before 10am on Friday (9pm Friday NZT) that they were unable to join the queue. It was reopened later that afternoon, although mourners now face a wait of more than 24 hours.

A message shared by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport stated: "Entry to the queue has reopened. Expected queuing time is over 24 hours. Overnight temperatures will be cold."

People queue in front of Westminster and Big Ben to pay their respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Photo / AP

The initial closure came less than an hour before the department warned they may be forced to close the queue.

They had previously written: "Her Majesty the Queen's lying-in-state queue update, 9.09am, 16 Sept.

"Southwark Park is extremely busy. Entry to the queue will be paused if it reaches capacity.

"If you are planning to join, please consider waiting until numbers have reduced."

At 8am, (7pm NZT) the estimated queuing time was 11 hours, but just an hour later, mourners were warned they would be in the line for about 14 hours before being admitted into Westminster Hall.

Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II. Photo / AP

People began queuing to see the Queen's coffin on Monday evening ahead of admittance on Wednesday at 5pm (4am Thursday NZT).

In the early hours of Thursday, officials made the decision to have two queues inside the building filing past the coffin on two sides in order to reduce waiting times.

Members of the public wishing to pay their respects to the monarch have been warned they need to be in the queue by 12.30am on Monday (11.30pm Sunday NZT) in order to make it into Westminster Hall before it closes at 6.30am,(5.30pm Monday NZT) hours before the Queen's funeral is due to take place.