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The first sign Malcolm McKenzie received of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his front door and told him his cherished Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a tire or something similar. But when I went out to check it out, I realized, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he stated.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide opening, possibly caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to figure out how to extricate his Mini.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Land

The hitch is that the property has no registered owner. The local council has stated it won't take down the fences cordoning off the sinkhole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has resided in the area in Redruth for about a decade and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is not wide enough 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 reliable little car that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's always wanted to go."

The Event and Consequences

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was very alarmed. The police turned up and closed the zone off. We all had to remain in the houses because we can't get out without passing by the collapse. The road crew came out, put 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 unlucky remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie thought he would be without his car for a few days. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Possible Solution

An conclusion may be in sight. The authorities has said it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the fences to permit the Mini to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at danger."

The car has been significantly harmed and is likely to be declared a total loss. "At least I can say my Mini met its end in style – not everyone can claim their car was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Authority Response

A representative from the local council expressed it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "The ground giving way did not happen on council land. We have secured the location and informed the vehicle owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the fence to allow him to recover the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will remain in place until land ownership has been established, and we will continue to monitor the vicinity to ensure public safety."