Funeral for Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs

An email from notorious prisoner Charles Bronson has been read out at the funeral of Ronnie Biggs in which he paid tribute to the Great Train Robber as "staunch, solid, loyal to the end".

The homage from Bronson continued:

Nick Reynolds, the son of the late mastermind of the 1963 robbery Bruce Reynolds, meanwhile described Biggs in heroic terms, saying:

Speaking about the ill health Biggs had suffered in his last years, Mr Reynolds said: "The house was a wreck but the lights were on and Ron was very much at home."

Charles Bronson, one of the country's longest-serving prisoners, has paid his respects to Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs with a bouquet.

The flowers contained an old ten-bob note with the words "Ronnie Biggs RIP" scrawled across it.

Flowers in the shape of two fingers have travelled in the back of the hearse carrying the coffin of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs to his funeral.

A Stetson hat and a red-and-white Charlton Athletic scarf sat atop the flags of Brazil and the UK as Ronnie Biggs' coffin was carried into a packed-out chapel in north London.

Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs' infamous defiance of authority has been celebrated at his funeral with a white floral wreath in the shape of a two-fingered salute included in his hearse.

The flag of Brazil, where he spent many years on the run, was draped over his coffin along with a Union flag as it was driven through north London on the way to his funeral service.

Biggs, who spent more than three decades as a fugitive, died at the age of 84 last month.