XHTML Encoding Issue?

I am using the XHTML output method
for transforming my DocBooks, but I think I may have an encoding
problem.

I am leaving the system with the default output of UTF-8 but I get the  character and I want to get
rid of it.  I can understand some places where it is being done, and
that is with empty cells in the table, however it also occurs with
other characters such as £.

Does anyone know how to eliminate these characters?

Thanks, Russell