Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, who won worldwide notoriety for spending 36 years on the run after escaping prison following the raid on the Glasgow to London overnight mail train, has died aged 84.

Biggs, who was last seen in public in March, "flicking the V" at the funeral of fellow robber Bruce Reynolds, died early yesterday.

The leader of the train drivers union dismissed him as a 'non-entity' for the attack on Jack Mills, who never fully recovered from being coshed by the gang and died in 1970.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: "While, naturally, we feel sorry for Mr Biggs' family at this time, we have always regarded Biggs as a non-entity and a criminal, who took part in a violent robbery which resulted in the death of a train driver.

"Jack Mills, who was 57 at the time of the robbery, never properly recovered from the injuries he suffered after being savagely coshed by the gang of which Biggs was a member that night."

Mr Mills's family had described Biggs as just a criminal.

The world-renowned robber was being cared for at Carlton Court Care Home in East Barnet, north London, after suffering several strokes in recent years.

He was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds due to ill health, despite being re-arrested in 2001 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 on August 8 1963.

Biggs had said he was proud to have been part of the gang behind the robbery, which saw 15 men escape with a record haul of £2.6 million (£46m in today's money), but he admitted that he regretted the attack.

Biggs had said: "If you want to ask me if I have any regrets about being one of the train robbers, my answer is 'No'.

"I will go further: I am proud to have been one of them. I am equally happy to be described as the 'tea-boy' or 'The Brain'.

"I was there that August night and that is what counts. I am one of the few witnesses - living or dead - to what was 'The Crime of the Century'."

Barbara Mills, the widow of Mr Mills' son, who himself died two years ago, said: "I'm just sad Stephen died before he did.

"Biggs is not a hero, he's just an out and out villain."

Peter Rayner, former chief operating officer of British Rail, said: "Whilst I was - and am - critical of the Great Train Robbers and the heroes' welcome they got, especially in light of the death of Jack Mills, my sympathies go out to his family."

Mike Gray, who has written numerous books on the Great Train Robbery said: "He was never a bad person. His criminal CV was laughable before the train robbery and none of the train robbers wanted him on the robbery as they had never heard of him."