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The first indication Malcolm McKenzie had of his situation was when a person living nearby loudly knocked on his door and informed him his cherished Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a tire or something like that. But when I went out to check it out, I understood, oh, that really is a proper hole," he stated.

His vehicle had descended into a 3-metre wide opening, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to determine how to retrieve his Mini.

The Main Problem: Unclaimed Land

The hitch is that the property isn't registered. The authorities has said it won't take down the fences blocking off the hole until property rights had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about a decade and in fact has a designated spot next to his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a nearby bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the council that he wouldn't get a ticket.

"I'd finally felt like I was getting somewhere, I had a dependable little car that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my child on her aspirational journey to Japan one day. She's always wanted to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then arrived that knock on the door on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The officers turned up and closed the zone off. We all had to remain in the houses because we couldn't leave without going past the hole. The highways people came out, erected the barrier up, and then they returned and put a second fence up around it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unfortunate remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a disused copper and tin mine.

McKenzie thought he would be without his vehicle for a few days. But that short time have now turned into weeks.

A Possible Resolution

An conclusion may be approaching. The authorities has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the fences to permit the car to be recovered. He said: "They are willing to work with my insurer's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an suitable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at danger."

The vehicle has been significantly harmed and is likely to be declared a total loss. "At least I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their vehicle was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Authority Response

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "The ground giving way did not happen on public property. We have secured the location and informed the vehicle owner that we will organize to lift the barrier to allow him to recover the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will stay up until property ownership has been determined, and we will persist to monitor the surrounding area to guarantee everyone's security."