A SEA of red, white and blue greeted the Queen on Tuesday as thousands of people turned out to welcome her to Bexleyheath.

Her Majesty, wearing a mustard skirt suit and hat, arrived to loud cheers from flag-waving crowds lining the streets and hanging out of windows.

Security was tight with scores of police officers on hand to patrol the crowds and escort the Queen as she made her way from Bexleyheath Police Station, via a walkabout in the Broadway, to open the new Crook Log Leisure Centre.

She then headed to the restored Danson House in Danson Park for a civic reception.

The crowds on the walkabout where five or six people deep, and dozens of people handed Her Majesty bunches of flowers.

The Queen stopped to talk briefly to local people. Among them was Cllr Margaret O’Neill, the cabinet member for town centres, industry and regeneration. She told her Majesty how she had a photograph of her mother - a volunteer with the WRVF - meeting her in 1953 following the devastating floods in Belvedere.

She said: “It was lovely to speak to the Queen. I didn’t expect to be able to. I did it for the memory of my mother.”

The Queen last visited the borough in 1980 to see the new community developing in Thamesmead. It was her second visit to Kent in seven days, having visited Dover last Wednesday.

MORE PICTUES AND FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S BEXLEY EXTRA