Thousands of people gathered in north London today for the funeral of Mark Duggan, the man whose fatal shooting by police sparked riots which spread around England.

There were emotional scenes as the body of the 29-year-old father of four, who died on 4 August, was carried in a horse-drawn carriage from his parents' home in Tottenham through the Broadwater Farm estate, where he grew up.

Crowds gathered over the morning and, as the cortege halted, the red-robed Bishop Kwaku Frimpong-Manson, who is leading the funeral, urged them to move forward and touch the casket.

"Mark was born on this estate so he was our boy," he said. "Put your hands on the casket and think of Mark's life. Say farewell to Mark Duggan."

An even bigger crowd of about 600 people assembled outside the red-brick New Testament Church of God building in nearby Wood Green, where the funeral service began soon afterwards. Mourners lined the pavements, their heads bowed, as the first prayer was read.

The private service will be followed by a burial in Wood Green. A reception will be held at Broadwater Farm.

Duggan's family remain highly critical of police, over both the events which left him with a gunshot wound to the chest and what they say was subsequent misinformation and lack of communication from Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the incident.

The Tottenham MP, David Lammy, has criticised the IPCC for leaving Duggan's family "floundering" and failing to make it clear to local people that it was independent from the police.

Dozens of relatives and friends gathered outside the Duggan family home before the funeral vehicle, a white carriage drawn by four plumed horses, arrived shortly after 10am. There, too, Frimpong-Manson urged mourners to reach out to the casket.

Before the cortege reached Broadwater Farm, one local man, wearing a black suit with matching trilby, who did not want to be named, explained that there was a strong sense of community on the estate but also the heavy weight of stigma. "Unless you have grown up here you cannot understand," he said. "You think if people see this address on a job application you are going to get a job? Even if you have done no wrong you have no hope. The only way you can have hope is to move away."

Large numbers of police remain on duty in the wake of the riots, but the presence at the funeral will be low-key and involve local officers. "We have met with Mr Duggan's parents," a police spokesman said. "In line with the family's wishes, the policing will reflect the family's desire for a local, peaceful and dignified funeral."

The family has requested that the media stay outside the church and that they are left in peace.

Clasford Sterling, a veteran youth worker at the Broadwater Farm community centre said while there was still anger in the area he did not think there would be any trouble: "Today is all about showing respect for his last journey. There is always going to be anger. If people are antagonised and pushed then we have seen what can happen."

He added: "The family just want to be left alone to have this funeral in peace."

When he was shot, Duggan was a passenger in a minicab which police stopped near Tottenham Hale tube station. The IPCC initially suggested that Duggan had fired at an officer before he was shot, but ballistic tests showed that the two bullets which were fired – one which killed Duggan and one which lodged in an officer's radio – were both police issue.

Another weapon, a blank-firing pistol which had been converted to use live rounds, was recovered near the scene of the shooting.

A march to protest at Duggan's death escalated into outbreaks of trouble in Tottenham and Wood Green, which spread into four days of serious riots in many locations around England.

An inquest at north London coroners court heard he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.