HE has worked alongside one of Britain's most notorious serial killers, been shown how to shoot up heroin, and sat with drunken heavy rockers at the Isle of Wight festival.

He's taken part in and led countless protests, caused chaos after the summer solstice in Stonehenge and isn't scared of breaking the law - if he has to.

This is the colourful world of Reverend Ian Johnson, the Rector of Southampton - and it's one he's proud of, having put himself in all of the above situations (although he didn't ever take the drugs) in the name of his work.

Since announcing his early retirement this week, the 62-year-old, who is one of the city's most well known faces, has been alarmingly surprised by the amount of people who have said they will be sorry to see him go.

Quite possibly it is because his sometimes controversial opinions - many expressed through his weekly Daily Echo column - have provoked strong reaction and occasionally outcry in some quarters.

Or maybe it's his firm belief that none of his many hundreds of parishioners through the years should ever leave his church feeling "comfortable" or "at ease".

He believes they should be "challenged" and sees his role as parish priest to be "a thorn in the side of any community".

Since arriving in Southampton back in 1999, Mr Johnson has placed his fingers in many pies. But without doubt some of his more high-profile work has been with immigrants.

He came to the city at a time when thousands of people were coming to the UK to seek refuge and many hundreds were coming to the city to find a home.

With a background in some of the poorest communities in Manchester and part of his life dedicated to empowering the youth who had no place in society, Mr Johnson decided he had to get involved.

He said: "I just refused to accept it was right to have people who had been tortured or severely damaged by evil regimes simply left to sleep on the streets of Southampton.

"As I began to listen I realised I had to help. I needed to get them better treatment."

And so began more than eight years tireless work with more than 90 asylum seekers and refugees whose cases he personally decided to fight.

They included a woman in her early 30s from the Congo, who had been raped more than 25 times and seen her five children beaten to death in front of her own eyes; a family of Afghans who arrived in a container ship who have now become close friends; and a man from Rwanda whose flight to the UK was paid for by a Christian organisation but who was told his story must be a lie because Christian organisations don't offer random acts of kindness.

Mr Johnson said: "There are so many and it's fair to say I have learned the hard way that I must read all the documents and paperwork before I offer help and support.

"There have been occasions when people have been less than truthful but it's better to be used unscrupulously 99 per cent of the time and help the one person who really needs it than not to do it at all."

One recent case concerned the Khameneh family from Iran who Mr Johnson has personally fought for - even taking them to St Mary's church for sanctuary in his desperate bid to stop them being deported.

Lisa and Khalil and their daughter Ariana fled their homeland to get medical treatment for Lisa's blindness. Having converted to Christianity and then been threatened with deportation, they feared they would be persecuted if they returned home.

"I would have broken the law if forced," said Mr Johnson, who tells me his job is "about compassion and mercy, not the law".

"I am keeping them alive right now by begging businesses and charities to help me provide them with food and clothing each week.

"I know of nobody in this city that is destitute. There is state support and free medical care for every citizen in Southampton. I regularly ask people What would it take to leave your home and everything that is in it behind? To have no money, to not know where you will sleep?' - that's what happens with most of these people who have come - it's because they have to."

So strong are his feelings, Mr Johnson has, in the past, challenged Echo readers who have expressed that too much support has been given to immigrants seeking refuge in the city.

"I believe that we should receive most of the people coming to this country.

"Once you've met a couple of them with genuine cases you don't just walk past them in the street, you simply cannot say no. It's about breaking through people's concepts. I believe the vast majority of asylum seekers and refugees whom I've worked with have had genuine cause to trust me to care for them."

But it's not just the plight of so many Mr Johnson will leave behind when he retires on his 63rd birthday in December - a decision made far earlier than planned because of poor health.

As well as the dozens of committees and organisations he is a part of, the nightly hot soup run for the homeless and the monthly lunches at church which attract more than 40 of the city's most needy people will be left for someone else as his 36-year career comes to an end.

"I've built on the work of my predecessor and thoroughly enjoyed it and have no doubt that whoever will be my successor will do the same," he added.