diff --git a/JAVA/LofarUtils/src/nl/astron/lofar/lofarutils/LofarUtils.java b/JAVA/LofarUtils/src/nl/astron/lofar/lofarutils/LofarUtils.java
index 0a434a83bfb4f50f478fb32fb263d98c65ac139a..b7d99e2f8542b9bba5fe5a3f2523f3355269e078 100644
--- a/JAVA/LofarUtils/src/nl/astron/lofar/lofarutils/LofarUtils.java
+++ b/JAVA/LofarUtils/src/nl/astron/lofar/lofarutils/LofarUtils.java
@@ -488,8 +488,6 @@ public abstract class LofarUtils {
          
         try {
             for (String aS:splitted) {
-                // return if non digits are found
-                if (!aS.matches("-?\\d+" )) return orgStr;
 
                 // check if a .. is found in the string
                 if (aS.contains("..")) {