import re


def remove_escape_sequences(string):
    """
    Replaces all contiguous instances of "\r\n\t\v\b\f\a " and replaces
    it with a single space. Preserves at most one space of surrounding whitespace
    """
    escape_seqs = r'[\r\n\t\v\b\f\a ]+'
    return re.sub(escape_seqs,' ', string)