import re

START_ITEM = "< ITEM >"
END_ITEM = "< END ITEM >"
TEXT = "1234567890"
_ITEM_RE = re.compile('''
<\s*ITEM\s*>            # Start
\s*(.*?)\s*             # Body (group 1)
<\s*END\s+ITEM\s*>      # End
''' % locals(), re.VERBOSE | re.DOTALL)
string = '%s%s%s%s' % (START_ITEM, 200*TEXT, END_ITEM, 1*TEXT)

# Find text inside item and after it
res = _ITEM_RE.search(string)
inside_the_match = res.group(1)
after_match = string[res.end():]

actual = (inside_the_match, after_match)
expected = (200*TEXT, 1*TEXT)
assert actual == expected, "%s\n!=\n%s" % (actual, expected)