Monday 19 September 2022 10:47 PM The mourners who MISSED the Queen's funeral: Man in rail chaos says 'events ... trends now
A former police officer who missed the Queen's funeral has said that 'events conspired against me' after his train to London was delayed for hours before he was turned away and told he would not make it in time.
Barry Boffy MBE along with thousands of mourners were impacted by transport and traffic chaos this morning after electrical faults and road closures meant travel was severely disrupted.
As well as members of the Royal Family, the Government and foreign dignitaries from around the world, nearly 200 key workers and volunteers recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list were invited to attend the funeral by Downing Street.
Among them was Mr Boffy, a former British Transport Police officer from Bristol who also missed the funeral after his train was stopped due to the electrical failures this morning.
Former British Transport Police officer Barry Boffy (pictured above) told the BBC his train was stopped near Slough after the overhead wires were damaged shortly after 6am this morning
As well as world leaders and politicians, nearly 200 people who were honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours list were also invited to her state funeral at Westminster Abbey this morning
Mr Boffy told the BBC his train was stopped near Slough after the overhead wires were damaged shortly after 6am this morning.
The former head of inclusion and diversity said once he made it to London, he was turned away by Met police officers who said there was no way he would make it in time.
Mr Boffy told the broadcaster: 'Events conspired against me and I wasn't able to make it in time.
'We had pulled into Langley, and they [train operators] opened the doors and basically said 'make your own way'.
'It was about an hour away by car and thankfully the kindness of strangers recognised I needed to get into London as soon as possible and offered me a lift with them.
'But with all the traffic and road closures, by the time I got pretty close to where I needed to be, Met Police told me there is no point you're not going to make it in time.
'Ultimately there isn't anything I can do about it, to change the circumstances, it is still a huge honour and privilege, just to have been invited, so I will treasure that, the memory of the opportunity to have been there.'
In total, about 2,000 people including world leaders and former UK prime ministers attended the funeral which began at 11am following a procession from Westminster Hall.
The disruption began shortly after 6am with Great Western Railway (GWR) informing passengers all railway lines between
