## Removing large deleted objects
+Command: `nominatim admin --clean-deleted <PostgreSQL Time Interval>`
+
Nominatim refuses to delete very large areas because often these deletions are
accidental and are reverted within hours. Instead the deletions are logged in
the `import_polygon_delete` table and left to the administrator to clean up.
-There is currently no command to do that. You can use the following SQL
-query to force a deletion on all objects that have been deleted more than
-a certain timespan ago (here: 1 month):
+To run this command you will need to pass a PostgreSQL time interval. For example to
+delete any objects that have been deleted more than a month ago you would run:
+`nominatim admin --clean-deleted '1 month'`
-```sql
-SELECT place_force_delete(p.place_id) FROM import_polygon_delete d, placex p
-WHERE p.osm_type = d.osm_type and p.osm_id = d.osm_id
- and age(p.indexed_date) > '1 month'::interval
-```