i would try with numeric backreferences, i honestly haven't done routes like you have above. something like

{ "/(north|east|midlands|london|southeast|southwest|moreregions)+/?$" = "/home/region/region/\1" },
		{ "/(north|east|midlands|london|southeast|southwest|moreregions)+/([A-Za-z0-9-_])+/?$" = "/home/area/region/\1/area/\2" }