THEY should have been sleepy eyed, having woken up early for their big day.But the children from Causton Junior, Fairfield Infants and Colneis Junior, were buzzing with excitement as they boarded the train at Felixstowe's station.

THEY should have been sleepy eyed, having woken up early for their big day.

But the children from Causton Junior, Fairfield Infants and Colneis Junior, were buzzing with excitement as they boarded the train at Felixstowe's station.

Around 100 children from the three schools were chosen to represent the youngsters of Felixstowe to see the Queen in Ipswich.

They left the seaside town just after 8.30am on a train provided for free by The Evening Star and Anglia Railways.

Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends and other teachers waved the flag-bearing children off on their 12-mile trip to Ipswich to see Her Majesty.

Hayley Webster, 11 from Causton Junior School said she had butterflies in her stomach all night and couldn't sleep for the excitement: "It is an honour to go and meet her it will be a chance of a lifetime and I don't want to miss it."

Irene Hazell the grandma of Causton Junior schoolboy Joshua said: "It is such a great opportunity for the children and such a glorious day for it." Joshua Hazell, her grandson, seven, woke at 6am and was very excited.

Laura Garnham, 10, from Causton Junior School said it had been a shock to have been chosen to meet the Queen as she had never met her before.

Doreen Bartlett, head of Fairfield Infants, said she was looking forward to at least catching a glimpse of the Queen.

"The last time I saw the Queen was in 1954 at Bradford on her Coronation day," she said.

She said the children felt honoured that they had been chosen to represent the school children of Felixstowe.

Adel Felgate , a teacher at Causton Junior, said: "They're really looking forward to it. They're thrilled to bits that they were chosen to go.

"I am looking forward to it. I can remember going along to the Silver Jubilee. It is a bit of a nostalgia trip."

Joan Bostock, head of Colneis Junior, said she had to stay in Felixstowe today because all the teachers at the school had wanted to go and see the Queen. All the names of staff were placed in a hat and two teachers, Tracey Russell and Barbara Payne, were given the chance, along with personal assistant Sue Jones, to see the Queen on her jubilee walkabout.

Mrs Bostock said: "I am very excited, we have got about 24 children going, and one of them is going to be involved in naming the train.

"They are really looking forward to going as are the staff, I'm not quite sure what to expect."

Children from Colneis Junior were ready with a banner emblazoned with their school's name so that parents watching the coverage on television could easily spot their children as the cameras tracked the Queen' progress.

When the train arrived at Ipswich, Freddie Benfield, eight, of Colneis Junior, Hayley Webster, 11, of Causton Junior, and Peter Ball, seven, of Fairfield Infants, helped name the Class 86 locomotive Golden Jubilee.

Deben High School's jazz band could also be heard as they played a series of numbers during the train naming ceremony.