The queue to see the Queen lying-in-state has been shut for at least six hours after the waiting time hit the maximum length, as desperate mourners continue to try to join.
People wishing to pay their final respects to Her Majesty in Westminster Hall have been filing past her coffin since Wednesday, with the mammoth line continuing to grow.
Earlier the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport warned if the park reached capacity entry would be temporarily stopped.
In an update it has now confirmed entry to the queue to see the Queen has been paused for "at least" six hours - but thousands of people continued to flood into the park as attendants were initially not been told to close the gates.
Officials earlier stopped people from entering the queue, causing a crowd to form around the entrance as people begged to be let in.
People have now been told there may be a wait of around four hours before they are given any updates.
The department said in a post: "Southwark Park has reached capacity. Entry will be paused for at least 6 hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
"Please do not attempt to join the queue until it reopens. Check back for further updates."
Helena Larsen, 76, from Chertsey, was mong those just to miss entry into Southwark Park.
She said: "We have literally got here and they have shut it in front of us, I don’t know what else to do. There are no other access points.
“I probably will wait around, I do think because there’s just a handful of us we should be let in.
“I fractured my back a few months ago, it’s a long walk even down to here.”
Among those waiting outside was Peter Bassett, 69, who said: "I haven't a clue what I will do now.
"I thought Friday would be easier, but this is ridiculous. There's not many people here, so why can't they let us in?"
"It has been really hard to find the queue and now that I finally found it it is closed and I can't go in."
A press officer from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport could be seen making his way to speak to queue officials.
Asked where entry to the queue would pause from, the spokesman said: “I’m not going to speculate at the moment – it’s too early for that.”
He said the announcement about the pause has “trickled down”.
“We informed the TfL, the transport people, first to let people find out before they reach this point.”
He added that announcements are being made in Tube stations and on display boards.
“We are trying to move people as fast as we can; just bear with us about some of the finer questions about the ground level.”
Since entry was paused earlier this morning, thousands of people have continued to file inside.
In its most recent update, the department said estimated queueing time for mourners had risen to at least 14 hours.
In a Twitter post, it earlier explained: "If you have not yet set off to join, please consider waiting until numbers have reduced."
According to the DCMS' online tracker, the queue is currently 4.9 miles long.
When the Hall was first opened to mourners at 5pm on Wednesday, the original queue already stretched 2.5 miles all the way to London Bridge.
By the following morning, it had grown to three miles.
The queue begins from Albert Embankment and runs along Belvedere Road behind the London Eye.
It then goes onto the South Bank where it follows the Thames past the National Theatre, the Tate Modern and the HMS Belfast, before passing under Tower Bridge and along to Southwark Park.
In an effort to help more mourners get into central London, more transport services, including late-night trains, have been put on.
Mourners are being urged to check Transport for London's (TfL) latest updates.
A number of roads around the queue area are closed to vehicle and bicycle traffic, and are only accessible on foot.
The lying-in-state period will end at 6.30am on Monday, prior to the Queen's state funeral at 11am.
But the line could be cut off completely as early as Saturday night.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said the wait in the queue could reach 30 hours.
Officials are expecting upwards of 750,000 people will go to see the coffin.
The crowds have passed the time meeting new friends.
But have been solemn and pensive as they flow into the ancient hall where chandeliers and spotlights illuminated the scene beneath the medieval timber roof.
As ordinary people of all ages file past the coffin of the long-reigning monarch, many have wiped their eyes with tissues.
Despite the issues, Downing Street said the queue system to view the Queen’s lying in state is going to plan.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said it was “the case that what DCMS have done is they’ve temporarily paused the queue for at least six hours after it reached maximum capacity.
“That has always been part of our planning and that is to make sure as many people as possible in the queue can enter the Palace of Westminster.”
* You can now buy last Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
