$re = '/(( *\n+|\A) *)/m';
$str = ' <div class="input select">
<label for="countries">User Country</label>
<select name="countries" id="countries">
<option value="">Select a country</option>
<option value="ger">Germany</option>
<option value="fra">France</option>
<option value="rus" selected="selected">Russia</option>
</select>
</div>';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($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