$re = '/<(\s*[+-]?[0-9])/m';
$str = '<p>I am <30 years old and weight <12st I am < 30 years old and weight < 12st I am <30 years old and weight < -12st I am < +30 years old and weight < 12st</p>';
$subst = "<$1";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php