$re = '/^0[.\(\/]5[0-9][0-9][.\)\/][.\ \/][1-9]([0-9]){2}[.\-\/]([0-9]){4}$/';
$str = '0(545) 355-1531';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str, 1);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$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