$re = '/(<number>)(?:\s*<number>)+/m';
$str = '"<number> <number>" -> "<number>"
"<number><number>"-> "<number>"
but not
"<number> test <number>" -> "<number> test <number>"';
$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