def remove_unreadable_characters_at_start(string):
    """
    Removes non ASCII characters from the string start as eggPlant files often begin with some strange symbols.
    The string gets also stripped (blank characters at start and end will be removed)
    :param string:
    :return: the processed string
    """
    stripped_string = string.strip()

    chars_to_remove = ''
    for c in stripped_string:
        if not 0 < ord(c) < 127:
            chars_to_remove += c
    stripped_string = stripped_string.lstrip(chars_to_remove)
    return stripped_string

    # ---------- eggPlant result type conversion ------------