A FAMILY-run coach service based in Dyserth took almost 500 North Wales residents to London to allow them pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II following her death.

Voel Coaches provided travel to Westminster Hall on September 16 and 17, where the Queen lay in state, before trips to London on September 18 and 19 for her funeral.

Taking two coaches each day, including an overnight stay for the September 18 trips, all trips ended up being fully booked.

Coaches parked at Wembley for the Queen’s funeral, which took place at Westminster Abbey at 11am on September 19.

En route to London, they stopped in Abergele, Towyn, Kinmel Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Meliden, Dyserth, Trelawnyd, Holywell, Northop and Ewloe.

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Voel Coaches marketing manager, Chris Gentile, said: “The feedback has been absolutely amazing. We’ve had quite a few reviews on our social media as well, which has been good.

“We were expecting a few hiccups over the weekend, but all in all, it ran very successfully.

“I’m very thankful to all of the team here, from sales to office staff, to the drivers – it’s been a huge operation, and all staff have worked very hard to make sure that we were able to offer this to our customers.

“I really wanted to go, but from when it first came to light that the Queen had died, we’ve been planning all of the logistics.

“For us to turn it around in less than a week is quite incredible.”

Customers who travelled with Voel also shared their emotions and thanks to the company for enabling them to be a part of such an event.

One wrote: “We travelled with Voel on Sunday evening and it was a very memorable day; the drivers were excellent throughout our journey.”

Another added: “We also travelled to London with Voel on Monday.

"The drivers were amazing, as is the company, even down to giving us maps.”

A third said: “We queued for nine hours yesterday to pay our respects to Her Majesty lying in state. It was worth every minute.”

Last week, Chris told the Journal why he felt obliged to arrange such trips for residents.

He said: “We run trips every year to the Royal Collection properties, so we knew our customer base liked the royals.

“As a family-run business ourselves, we understand that, when something like this happens, we need to all come together and unite."

In March, Voel Coaches also received an estimated £30,000 worth of donations of essential items in just three days to send to those in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion of the country.