The WRVS had given out 30,000 gallons of free tea, coffee and squash from a tent in Victoria Tower Gardens, manned by a pool of 270 volunteers. They also sold sandwiches and snacks to those who didn't have the foresight to bring refreshments.Christine Baehr, 58, a volunteer from the New Forest, Hampshire, had got up at 4.15am to start her shift "It's been very satisfying. People have been very appreciative."St John Ambulance staff handed out foil blankets overnight to people who had not heeded the police's advice to come suitably dressed. Members of the Venture Scouts, who were supervising the signing of the Books of Condolence, also in the gardens, had lent 20 of their windproof jackets to people in the crowd as temperatures fell in the early morning.

"We got all but two back," said Daniel Hayward, 21, a Venture Scout from Wimbledon, south London. "We also lent out our baseball caps and got all of those back."Andy Trotter, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said only about 200 officers had been needed for the "good natured, orderly and charming" crowd.He said: "Their sanction today is assist the crowd and direct the traffic." He said he was surprised at the dignity and determination of the crowd "It's gratifying and uplifting in many ways. Officers have been very proud to have taken part."The Deputy Assistant Commissioner added that he had only heard of one incident of queue jumping. "They pointed out how inappropriate it was, and that person ­ through embarrassment ­ left the crowd. It was a very British way of handling it."Westminster Hall was to remain open until 6am this morning when it will be closed for two hours. Viewing will finally end at 6am tomorrow, the day of the Royal funeral..

Job satisfaction among British employees has slumped to unprecedented levels because of uninspired leadership, a damning report says today. "Too few UK organisations are visionary; too few set themselves the task of audaciously 'doing something great', too few equip their organisations with the workplaces that might pull off such ideas."A survey by the independent think-tank shows that job satisfaction has plummeted. In 1992, 22 per cent of employees were very satisfied with their job prospects, but by 2000 this had fallen to 15 per cent. The number of workers content with their pay dropped from 25 per cent to 13 per cent, job security fell from 43 to 39 per cent, the proportion satisfied with their working hours slid from 44 to 24 per cent, and happiness with the work itself decreased from 54 to 41 per cent.Growing disaffection has led to a "new critical attitude" among employees, who are becoming less loyal, less committed and less prepared to sacrifice their life outside the office, in a "widespread retreat of discretionary effort".Many employees are no longer prepared to make work a priority and thus the number of people who work "only as hard as they have to" has doubled to 13 per cent, the report says. This "profoundly worrying" trend is blamed on the failure of businesses to manage their staff effectively, instill a sense of purpose or encourage them to show initiative and responsibility.In contrast, European businesses organise their workplaces more "intelligently and creatively" so workers feel motivated to perform.The report says that despite nine years of economic growth, falling unemployment and longer working hours, the "yawning" productivity gap has not improved The biggest economic problem remains under-performance.

But without better people management and more inspiring workplaces, productivity will remain stalled, the report warns.British offices still resemble "work kennels" where workplace relations are viewed as essentially contractual. Only 46 per cent of employees have any say about their working hours and one-third of workers are required to clock on."UK enterprises are over-controlled and under-led. Too much effort is given to monitoring adherence to immediate rules or established systems, and not enough is spent on creating environments in which clear, formal goals are issued to allow employees to develop and manage themselves and make a full and willing contribution to the success of UK enterprises," the report says."Without meaningful work and workplaces .. the UK's productivity revolution will remain stalled.". The best vantage points to watch the Queen Mother'sfuneral were already taken 48 hours before the procession. Many of the first people to file past thecoffin yesterday had waited overnight in the bitter cold.Some were critical that they were not told the hall would close between 5am and 8am yesterday for a funeral rehearsal, which forced them to wait for an extra three hours in the cold. Linda White, 52, from Fleet, Hampshire, said: "We arrived at 1.45am andwere near the front of the queue when it closed.