A minister who has tried out as many jobs as possible at Gatwick said goodbye to the airport today.

The Rev Phil Hughes, 41, is leaving his post as Anglican chaplain to take up a similar position at Heathrow, where he will also be vicar of St Mary's Church in Harmondsworth, which is nearby.

During six years at Gatwick, he has tried 46 jobs as part of his Yours for the Day crusade, meeting workers and experiencing their stresses and strains.

He has done everything from serving coffee at the Costa Coffee bar and working as a barman to cleaning toilets, working as an air steward and sorting lost property.

His last job was helping deliver mail in the south terminal yesterday.

He said: "The idea was not to observe or shadow people but to have hands-on experience of what it is like to do their jobs and to tackle the type of situations people face in their working days."

Mr Hughes said his favourite job had been making the passenger announcements while dealing with telephone calls in the airport's central exchange had been the most demanding.

He said his morning as a postman had been great fun but he had found sorting the mail very confusing.

As chaplain, Mr Hughes's duty was to administer to the spiritual needs of staff and passengers at the airport and conduct services in the chapels in both terminals.

He was chaplain to Sussex Police at the airport and an officer with the Church Emergency Response for Sussex, which is called to help victims and relatives in major emergencies.

With his new job, Mr Hughes will be able to combine airport chaplaincy with having his own church, something he missed at Gatwick.

He said: "I shall be very sorry to leave everyone but will enjoy the new challenge."

His successor has not yet been appointed.