empty option in select

I have a form like this:

<form action="url" method="post">
<select name="data" size=1><option><option>aaa<option>bbb</select>
<input type=submit value="Search">
</form>

The first option is empty, that is, an empty string. When the empty option is
selected and the form is submitted, the value posted by Amaya for data is some
string like "&@<@!", i.e. random garbage, instead of an empty string.

Amaya is version 3.2, Linux binary.

Karl-Michael Schneider