BOOKS of condolence have been opened across the region following the death of the Queen Mother.

Mourners throughout the North-East signed the volumes to pay tribute to Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who died in her sleep at Windsor, on Saturday.

Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, will open a book of condolence on Thursday. Staff are predicting that hundreds of mourners will want to sign it.

The Queen Mother was the patron of the Friends of the Bowes Museum, and visited Barnard Castle on several occasions, even donating items of her clothing to be included in exhibitions.

As she made her final journey to St James' Palace, in London, ahead of next week's funeral, hundreds of people across the North-east prepared to mourn the Queen Mother.

Ormesby Hall, at Middlesbrough, which is operated by the National Trust, will be closed on the day of the funeral. The Queen Mother was president of the conservation charity.

A spokeswoman said that staff and volunteers at the Teesside stately mansion had been greatly saddened by her death.

Durham County Council has opened a book of condolence at County Hall, Durham, to let people express their thoughts and feelings about the nation's favourite granny.

A virtual book of condolence has also been set up on the council's Internet website, which can be accessed at www.durham.gov.uk

Council leader Ken Manton said yesterday that a formal letter of sympathy had been sent to the Queen on behalf of the council and the people in the county.

He said: "I know that, because of the Queen Mother's family connections with County Durham, and her frequent visits here over the years, she held a very special place in the affections of the people in this part of the country.

"That being so, I believe it is important that they have some tangible way in which to register their own emotions about the contribution which the Queen Mother made to the fabric of our nation.

"Our book of condolence offers people a personal way in which to express their feelings."

The book can be signed from 8am to 8.30pm, Monday to Friday, and from 8.30am to noon on Saturday.

Books of condolence have been opened at the offices of The Northern Echo in Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Durham City and Northallerton, and on this website.

Some of the tributes will be printed in The Northern Echo