An ex-serviceman who had always planned to attend the Queen Mother's funeral last night paid tribute to the Royal as he faced up to being unable to fulfill his wish.

Cyril Cooke, 73, from Darlington, feels he is too old to camp out in the capital overnight to attend the event, but was able to be among the crowd at The Mall on Friday.

Mr Cooke, who served in the Royal Corps of Signals from 1946 to 1969, was presented to Her Majesty in the early 1990s during a visit to a memorial in London.

"She was a very gracious lady," he said, "certainly a friend of servicemen and she will be sadly missed."

But of his inability to attend Tuesday's funeral, he said: "I won't be able to do it in a day, they will be camping there today for ther positions on the route.

"I'm too old to do that sort of thing. I would like to go but know I can't."

Mr Cooke served with the corps in West Africa, France, Singapore and Germany, as well as being posted at Catterick.

He was in London on Friday for a meeting in his position as secretary of the Royal Signals Association's Darlington branch and took the opportunity to pay his respects.