def METHOD_NAME(self):
    with open(self.in_file) as f:
        # Seek to start line
        for _ in range(1, self.start_line):
            f.readline()
        # Delete a batch of records
        lines_processed = 0
        affected_records = 0
        num_deleted = 0
        for _ in range(self.batch_size):
            line = f.readline()
            if not line:
                break
            fields = line.strip().split('\t')
            ia_ids = fields[2:]
            try:
                result = ImportItem.delete_items(ia_ids, _test=self.dry_run)
                if self.dry_run:
                    # Result is string "DELETE FROM ..."
                    print(result)
                else:
                    # Result is number of records deleted
                    num_deleted += result
            except Exception as e:
                print(f'Error when deleting: {e}')
                if not self.dry_run:
                    write_to(self.error_file, line, mode='a+')
            lines_processed += 1
            affected_records += int(fields[0])
    # Write next line number to state file:
    if not self.dry_run:
        write_to(self.state_file, f'{self.start_line + lines_processed}')
    return {
        'lines_processed': lines_processed,
        'num_deleted': num_deleted,
        'affected_records': affected_records,
    }