strip_accent.php

<?php

    /**
     * Formats string, removes accents from string
     * @param string $string String to format
     * @return string
     */
    function strip_accent($string)
    {
        $accents = '/&([A-Za-z]{1,2})(grave|acute|circ|cedil|uml|lig);/';
        $string_encoded = htmlentities($string, ENT_NOQUOTES, 'UTF-8');
        $string = preg_replace($accents, '$1', $string_encoded);
        return $string;
    }