<?php
$detail = "line 1<br />line 2<br /><br />line 3";
echo preg_replace('#(<br\s*\/?>\s*){3,}#i', '<br /><br />', $detail);
echo "\n";
$detail = "line 1<br />line 2<br /><br /><br />line3<br /><br />";
echo preg_replace('#(<br\s*\/?>\s*){3,}#i', '<br /><br />', $detail);
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