cheers skuhlman, however i also want to group and count the results but dont know what to group on as i cant group on TC_postcode.
my sql statement
SELECT (CASE
WHEN TC_postcode LIKE '[1234567890]%' THEN ''
WHEN TC_postcode LIKE '_[1234567890]%' THEN LEFT(TC_Postcode,1)
WHEN TC_postcode LIKE '__[1234567890]%' THEN LEFT(TC_Postcode,2)
ELSE TC_Postcode END) AS areacode, count(TC_POSTCODE)
FROM bgolbdb(nolock)
where udcalloutcome like '%registration%'
group by ????????