Invalid html from validator

Greetings,
     I was pointed at a web document from the UK Open University which did
not validate. The URL is -

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.open.ac.uk%2Fpersonal-computing%2Fcourses%2FMT2622008.shtm

     The validator output for this contains such gems as -

        <span class="msg">non SGML character number 146</span>.<pre><code
class="input">If you<strong title="Position where error was
detected.">X</strong><re unsure about the </code></pre>

in which the 'X' character was the Unicode code point U+00C2.

     Notice after the strong element end tag the additionally '<' tag start
character.

     I submit this is a validator error.

                         Regards,

                                   Keith Hopper

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