diff --git a/docs/api.md b/docs/api.md
index c38018f71..5bdb18f3f 100644
--- a/docs/api.md
+++ b/docs/api.md
@@ -412,11 +412,14 @@ The following methods are supported:
     - `"merge": true or false` (defaults to false)
   - The `merge` flag determines if the supplied permissions will overwrite all existing permissions (including
     removing them) or be merged with existing permissions.
-- `merge`
+- `merge` and `merge_and_delete_originals`
   - No additional `parameters` required.
   - The ordering of the merged document is determined by the list of IDs.
   - Optional `parameters`:
     - `"metadata_document_id": DOC_ID` apply metadata (tags, correspondent, etc.) from this document to the merged document.
+  - As the name implies, `merge_and_delete_originals` deletes the original
+    documents after merging. This requires the calling user being the owner of
+    all documents that are merged.
 - `split`
   - Requires `parameters`:
     - `"pages": [..]` The list should be a list of pages and/or a ranges, separated by commas e.g. `"[1,2-3,4,5-7]"`
diff --git a/src-ui/messages.xlf b/src-ui/messages.xlf
index 2cdb7a78a..0c17f42ec 100644
--- a/src-ui/messages.xlf
+++ b/src-ui/messages.xlf
@@ -2970,11 +2970,18 @@
           <context context-type="linenumber">24</context>
         </context-group>
       </trans-unit>
+      <trans-unit id="2519605321077387027" datatype="html">
+        <source> Delete original documents after merge </source>
+        <context-group purpose="location">
+          <context context-type="sourcefile">src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.html</context>
+          <context context-type="linenumber">32,34</context>
+        </context-group>
+      </trans-unit>
       <trans-unit id="5138283234724909648" datatype="html">
         <source>Note that only PDFs will be included.</source>
         <context-group purpose="location">
           <context context-type="sourcefile">src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.html</context>
-          <context context-type="linenumber">30</context>
+          <context context-type="linenumber">36</context>
         </context-group>
       </trans-unit>
       <trans-unit id="8157388568390631653" datatype="html">
@@ -6417,7 +6424,7 @@
         <source>Merged document will be queued for consumption.</source>
         <context-group purpose="location">
           <context context-type="sourcefile">src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.ts</context>
-          <context context-type="linenumber">819</context>
+          <context context-type="linenumber">824</context>
         </context-group>
       </trans-unit>
       <trans-unit id="2784168796433474565" datatype="html">
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.html b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.html
index 0da291c94..7dd6bccc9 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.html
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.html
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@
             }
         </select>
     </div>
+    <div class="form-check form-switch mt-4">
+      <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" value="" id="deleteOriginals" [(ngModel)]="deleteOriginals" [disabled]="!userOwnsAllDocuments">
+      <label class="form-check-label" for="deleteOrginals" i18n>
+        Delete original documents after merge
+      </label>
+    </div>
     <p class="small text-muted fst-italic mt-4" i18n>Note that only PDFs will be included.</p>
 </div>
 <div class="modal-footer">
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.ts b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.ts
index 7e64a4f84..1530620e1 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.ts
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core'
 import { ConfirmDialogComponent } from '../confirm-dialog.component'
 import { NgbActiveModal } from '@ng-bootstrap/ng-bootstrap'
 import { DocumentService } from 'src/app/services/rest/document.service'
+import { PermissionsService } from 'src/app/services/permissions.service'
 import { CdkDragDrop, moveItemInArray } from '@angular/cdk/drag-drop'
 import { Subject, takeUntil } from 'rxjs'
 import { Document } from 'src/app/data/document'
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ export class MergeConfirmDialogComponent
   implements OnInit
 {
   public documentIDs: number[] = []
+  public deleteOriginals: boolean = false
   private _documents: Document[] = []
   get documents(): Document[] {
     return this._documents
@@ -27,7 +29,8 @@ export class MergeConfirmDialogComponent
 
   constructor(
     activeModal: NgbActiveModal,
-    private documentService: DocumentService
+    private documentService: DocumentService,
+    private permissionService: PermissionsService
   ) {
     super(activeModal)
   }
@@ -48,4 +51,10 @@ export class MergeConfirmDialogComponent
   getDocument(documentID: number): Document {
     return this.documents.find((d) => d.id === documentID)
   }
+
+  get userOwnsAllDocuments(): boolean {
+    return this.documents.every((d) =>
+      this.permissionService.currentUserOwnsObject(d)
+    )
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.ts b/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.ts
index df3bf88c0..a2bcc43bb 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.ts
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.ts
@@ -814,7 +814,12 @@ export class BulkEditorComponent
           args['metadata_document_id'] = mergeDialog.metadataDocumentID
         }
         mergeDialog.buttonsEnabled = false
-        this.executeBulkOperation(modal, 'merge', args, mergeDialog.documentIDs)
+        this.executeBulkOperation(
+          modal,
+          mergeDialog.deleteOriginals ? 'merge_and_delete_originals' : 'merge',
+          args,
+          mergeDialog.documentIDs
+        )
         this.toastService.showInfo(
           $localize`Merged document will be queued for consumption.`
         )
diff --git a/src/documents/bulk_edit.py b/src/documents/bulk_edit.py
index 9e0fc242a..009ca0dce 100644
--- a/src/documents/bulk_edit.py
+++ b/src/documents/bulk_edit.py
@@ -234,7 +234,11 @@ def rotate(doc_ids: list[int], degrees: int):
     return "OK"
 
 
-def merge(doc_ids: list[int], metadata_document_id: Optional[int] = None):
+def merge(
+    doc_ids: list[int],
+    metadata_document_id: Optional[int] = None,
+    delete_originals: bool = False,
+):
     logger.info(
         f"Attempting to merge {len(doc_ids)} documents into a single document.",
     )
@@ -285,9 +289,20 @@ def merge(doc_ids: list[int], metadata_document_id: Optional[int] = None):
         overrides,
     )
 
+    if delete_originals:
+        logger.info("Removing original documents after merge")
+        delete(affected_docs)
+
     return "OK"
 
 
+def merge_and_delete_originals(
+    doc_ids: list[int],
+    metadata_document_id: Optional[int] = None,
+):
+    return merge(doc_ids, metadata_document_id, True)
+
+
 def split(doc_ids: list[int], pages: list[list[int]]):
     logger.info(
         f"Attempting to split document {doc_ids[0]} into {len(pages)} documents",
diff --git a/src/documents/serialisers.py b/src/documents/serialisers.py
index 5213d4ca0..7e626b5e6 100644
--- a/src/documents/serialisers.py
+++ b/src/documents/serialisers.py
@@ -943,6 +943,7 @@ class BulkEditSerializer(
             "set_permissions",
             "rotate",
             "merge",
+            "merge_and_delete_originals",
             "split",
             "delete_pages",
         ],
@@ -999,6 +1000,8 @@ class BulkEditSerializer(
             return bulk_edit.rotate
         elif method == "merge":
             return bulk_edit.merge
+        elif method == "merge_and_delete_originals":
+            return bulk_edit.merge_and_delete_originals
         elif method == "split":
             return bulk_edit.split
         elif method == "delete_pages":
diff --git a/src/documents/tests/test_bulk_edit.py b/src/documents/tests/test_bulk_edit.py
index 16579c887..f8056ab09 100644
--- a/src/documents/tests/test_bulk_edit.py
+++ b/src/documents/tests/test_bulk_edit.py
@@ -376,6 +376,45 @@ class TestPDFActions(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
             / "0000003.pdf",
             sample3,
         )
+
+        sample4 = self.dirs.scratch_dir / "sample4.pdf"
+        shutil.copy(
+            Path(__file__).parent
+            / "samples"
+            / "documents"
+            / "originals"
+            / "0000001.pdf",
+            sample4,
+        )
+        sample4_archive = self.dirs.archive_dir / "sample4_archive.pdf"
+        shutil.copy(
+            Path(__file__).parent
+            / "samples"
+            / "documents"
+            / "originals"
+            / "0000001.pdf",
+            sample4_archive,
+        )
+
+        sample5 = self.dirs.scratch_dir / "sample5.pdf"
+        shutil.copy(
+            Path(__file__).parent
+            / "samples"
+            / "documents"
+            / "originals"
+            / "0000002.pdf",
+            sample5,
+        )
+        sample5_archive = self.dirs.archive_dir / "sample5_archive.pdf"
+        shutil.copy(
+            Path(__file__).parent
+            / "samples"
+            / "documents"
+            / "originals"
+            / "0000002.pdf",
+            sample5_archive,
+        )
+
         self.doc1 = Document.objects.create(
             checksum="A",
             title="A",
@@ -410,6 +449,24 @@ class TestPDFActions(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
             mime_type="image/jpeg",
         )
 
+        self.doc1_delete_after_merge = Document.objects.create(
+            checksum="Ad",
+            title="Adelete",
+            filename=sample4,
+            mime_type="application/pdf",
+        )
+        self.doc1_delete_after_merge.archive_filename = sample4_archive
+        self.doc1_delete_after_merge.save()
+
+        self.doc2_delete_after_merge = Document.objects.create(
+            checksum="Bd",
+            title="Bdelete",
+            filename=sample5,
+            mime_type="application/pdf",
+        )
+        self.doc2_delete_after_merge.archive_filename = sample5_archive
+        self.doc2_delete_after_merge.save()
+
     @mock.patch("documents.tasks.consume_file.delay")
     def test_merge(self, mock_consume_file):
         """
@@ -444,6 +501,41 @@ class TestPDFActions(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
 
         self.assertEqual(result, "OK")
 
+    @mock.patch("documents.tasks.consume_file.delay")
+    def test_merge_and_delete_originals(self, mock_consume_file):
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - Existing documents
+        WHEN:
+            - Merge action with deleting documents is called with 2 documents
+        THEN:
+            - Consume file should be called
+            - Documents should be deleted
+        """
+        doc_ids = [self.doc1_delete_after_merge.id, self.doc2_delete_after_merge.id]
+
+        result = bulk_edit.merge_and_delete_originals(doc_ids)
+        self.assertEqual(result, "OK")
+
+        expected_filename = (
+            f"{'_'.join([str(doc_id) for doc_id in doc_ids])[:100]}_merged.pdf"
+        )
+
+        mock_consume_file.assert_called()
+
+        consume_file_args, _ = mock_consume_file.call_args
+        self.assertEqual(
+            Path(consume_file_args[0].original_file).name,
+            expected_filename,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(consume_file_args[1].title, None)
+
+        with self.assertRaises(Document.DoesNotExist):
+            Document.objects.get(id=self.doc1_delete_after_merge.id)
+
+        with self.assertRaises(Document.DoesNotExist):
+            Document.objects.get(id=self.doc2_delete_after_merge.id)
+
     @mock.patch("documents.tasks.consume_file.delay")
     @mock.patch("pikepdf.open")
     def test_merge_with_errors(self, mock_open_pdf, mock_consume_file):
diff --git a/src/documents/views.py b/src/documents/views.py
index 02023b59f..862491f2a 100644
--- a/src/documents/views.py
+++ b/src/documents/views.py
@@ -968,7 +968,12 @@ class BulkEditView(PassUserMixin):
             has_perms = (
                 all((doc.owner == user or doc.owner is None) for doc in document_objs)
                 if method
-                in [bulk_edit.set_permissions, bulk_edit.delete, bulk_edit.rotate]
+                in [
+                    bulk_edit.set_permissions,
+                    bulk_edit.delete,
+                    bulk_edit.rotate,
+                    bulk_edit.merge_and_delete_originals,
+                ]
                 else all(
                     has_perms_owner_aware(user, "change_document", doc)
                     for doc in document_objs