There is an option setting that determines whether Word helps out by deleting extra spaces when removing text. You could change that optional setting and see if it fixes your code issue.

The option is in File > Options > Advanced > Cut, copy and paste > Use smart cut and paste
Turn that off and try your code.

If that works, you can investigate the settings further at the next level down - it appears the likely culprit would be the "adjust sentence and word spacing automatically"

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia