Regex for UK postcode

Question

I have this regex that I want to use to parse a UK postcode, but it doesn't work when a postcode is entered without spaces.

^([A-PR-UWYZ0-9][A-HK-Y0-9][AEHMNPRTVXY0-9]?[ABEHMNPRVWXY0-9]?) {1,2}([0-9][ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}|GIR 0AA)$

What change(s) do I need to make to this regex so it'll work without spaces correctly?

If I supply LS28NG I would expect the regex to return two matches for LS2 and 8NG.

Hello, just wanted to check: you want the regex to match `LS28NG` or to split it up and match `LS2` and `8NG` separately? — e h, Mar 11 '14 at 12:25
possible duplicate of [Javascript UK postcode regex](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11081786/javascript-uk-postcode-regex) — Ken White, Mar 11 '14 at 12:45

Michelle · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-11T12:32:00.700

2

This worked for me, at least for your example of LS28NG:

^([A-PR-UWYZ0-9][A-HK-Y0-9][AEHMNPRTVXY0-9]?[ABEHMNPRVWXY0-9]?) {0,2}([0-9][ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}|GIR ?0AA)$

I changed the repetitions after the space to 0-2 instead of 1-2, and made the space in GIR 0AA optional.

edited Mar 11 '14 at 12:32

answered Mar 11 '14 at 12:18

Michelle

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 11 '14 at 12:20

Try adding \s{0,2} and putting brackets around the first and second part of the expression:

^([A-PR-UWYZ0-9][A-HK-Y0-9][AEHMNPRTVXY0-9]?[ABEHMNPRVWXY0-9]?)\s{0,2}([0-9][ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}|GIR 0AA)$

For:

LS2 8NG
LS28NG

It will match:

LS2 and 8NG
LS2 and 8NG

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 11 '14 at 12:20

0

Just add an optional space \s? at the end of the first group:

^([A-PR-UWYZ0-9][A-HK-Y0-9][AEHMNPRTVXY0-9]?[ABEHMNPRVWXY0-9]?\s?){1,2}([0-9][ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}|GIR 0AA)$

answered Mar 11 '14 at 12:20

arco444

3 Answers3