Word 2003

I can't remove the color shading fill i've applied to text and tables in my
document. When i highlight the text or table and view the Shading tab in
Format Borders and Shading, the preview does not show the selected items as
having the shading applied. Randomly i have managed to hiughlight text and
remove the shading here and there but there are a lot of shaded areas from
which i cannot remove the shaidng.

Any ideas as tot he whys and wherefores?

Thanks in advance

Rob