Thousands of Britons join Rome exodus

British pilgrims are today joining millions of mourners heading to Italy to pay their respects to the Pope and attend his funeral.

Tens of thousands of Roman Catholics from the UK are expected to make the journey to pay tribute to the pontiff alongside an estimated four million people from around the world.

Flights to Italy before the Friday service are filling quickly and hotel spaces in Rome are at a premium. Many pilgrims are preparing to pay more than £1,000 to be there. Huge fields on the outskirts of Rome have been filled with tents to house those who cannot find or afford a hotel.

Several London pilgrims told the Standard they were unsure whether they would be able to see the Pope's body in St Peter's Basilica or if they had any chance of getting into St Peter's Square for the funeral. But they were determined to pay tribute to their spiritual leader of the last 27 years.

Since John Paul II's body was put on display on Monday, the queue for a moment in his presence has stretched to more than a mile long, and continues to grow. Police estimate that at any one time 200,000 people are waiting for up to 10 hours.

Dominic Chai, a Korean living in London, was one of many who had waited in the queue for more than eight hours. "I will miss his smile," he said.

The Vatican said up to 18,000 people an hour were filing past the bier, with the total for Monday and Tuesday reaching one million and a further 600,000 expected today.

Television producer Jack Dunphy, 40, of Palmers Green, has decided to drop everything and go to Rome whatever the cost. "The Pope gave so much of himself for so long and I feel it is only right to make the journey and give my thanks for his life," he said. "It really is a pilgrimage for me.

"The first thing I will do is join the queue for St Peter's Basilica to see the Pope's body. I don't care if I have to stand there all day, all day and all the next night - I will see him."

Gareth Evans, a 25-year-old website developer from Clapham, said he had paid ?300 for his flight to Rome and expected to spend more than ?1,000 to make his four-day journey. "My fiancé ™vonne is going to meet me out there with her three sisters. We all feel it is so important to be there and pay our respects to such a great man. It will be a historic moment."

With the crowds turning the streets around the Vatican into a mad, chaotic throng, estimates of the number of faithful who will come for the funeral keep rising. Some 200 world leaders are expected to attend the service, with up to two billion people due to watch the ceremony on television - almost one in every three people.

Up to two million Poles are expected to converge on Rome in honour of the man regarded as a national hero. More than 200,000 people turned out for a farewell mass for the Polish-born pontiff at Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, where he once rallied the nation to fight communist rule.