diff --git a/matlab/estimation/smc/hssmc.m b/matlab/estimation/smc/hssmc.m
index 6723f931a7bbad2f4c343f00afe828ded66026d8..888e632560196ab674c205048718d33bd40aba76 100644
--- a/matlab/estimation/smc/hssmc.m
+++ b/matlab/estimation/smc/hssmc.m
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ function mdd = hssmc(TargetFun, mh_bounds, dataset_, dataset_info, options_, M_,
 
     % Set location for the simulated particles.
     SimulationFolder = CheckPath('hssmc', M_.dname);
+    %delete old stale files before creating new ones
+    delete_stale_file(sprintf('%s%sparticles-*.mat', SimulationFolder,filesep))
 
     % Define prior distribution
     Prior = dprior(bayestopt_, options_.prior_trunc);