Python - remove leading zeros

To remove one or more leading zeros from the string eg. convert 0040 into 40:

import re
oldstring = '0040'
newstring = re.sub(r"\b0{2}","",oldstring)

To remove different number of zeros change the number in {} in the code.

EDIT:
Better way:


import re
oldstring = '0040'
newstring = re.sub("^0+","",oldstring)