HE gave the Power in the Park audience a pretty heavy hint by taking their photograph from the stage and announcing: "This might be my last chance to do this!"

Now Power FM DJ Des Paul has confirmed that he is to quit the radio station this summer.

The 31-year-old broadcaster, who presents a show on the station weekdays from 10am-1pm as well as Sundays from 10am-11am, is leaving his job after eight years to become head of music at Choice FM, a London-based station bought up by Power's owners, Capital Radio.

"I'm taking a step back from presenting. I've been at Power a very long time and I've had a great time. I've done everything I've wanted to do there," said Des, who started at Power as a freelance stand-in.

"I've been involved in the music side of things for a while and jobs like this don't come up very often."

During his time at Power, Des has broadcast in almost every slot except the breakfast show. One of his proudest moments was his masterminding of the Southampton Boys single, released in the run-up to Saints' showdown with Arsenal in last year's FA Cup final.

"That was a great experience. It went from a chat in the pub to being at number 16 in the national charts."

Other fond memories include interviewing the Spice Girls in Paris and Nelly in New York, and - of course - eight Power in the Parks.

Sunday's event proved to be a moving experience for Des. He said: "I'm not a particularly emotional person, but I must admit that when I walked out on the stage and thought: 'This is the last time I'll be doing this', I got a bit of a lump in my throat."

The DJ, who expects to stay with Power until the middle of August, admits he will miss his colleagues and his relationship with his listeners.

However, modest as ever, he added: "At the end of the day, I only play records and talk in between them."