Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, who spent much of his life cocking a snook at authority, has been given an appropriate send off.

When he was last seen in public, at the funeral of robbery mastermind Bruce Reynolds, Biggs stuck two fingers up at journalists.

On Friday, as the hearse carrying his coffin passed through the streets of north London, a white floral wreath in the shape of a two-fingered salute was visible alongside a Union flag and the flag of Brazil, the country where he spent many years as a fugitive from British justice.

The coffin was surrounded by floral tributes and messages, and adorned with a red ribbon that read “Ronnie”.

Biggs, who won worldwide notoriety after escaping prison and living the high life in Rio de Janeiro, died last month at the age of 84.

Ronnie Biggs at the release of his book in 2011.

He spent more than three decades on the run, and had been cared for at London care home, after suffering several strokes in recent years.

His carers were among those that joined the funeral procession.

Biggs was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds due to ill health, despite being re-arrested in 2001 upon his return to the UK after evading the authorities since his first escape from Wandsworth Prison in 1965.

At the time of his escape, Biggs had served just 15 months of the 30-year sentence he was handed for his part in the robbery of a Royal Mail freight train between London and Glasgow on August 8, 1963.

After having plastic surgery, he lived as a fugitive for 36 years first in Australia then Brazil.