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The initial indication the local man had of his predicament was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his front door and told him his cherished Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I stepped outside anticipating a small pothole under a tire or something like that. But when I walked out to take a look, I realized, oh, that truly is a proper hole," he stated.

His vehicle had descended into a 3-metre wide opening, possibly caused by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to figure out how to retrieve his car.

The Core Issue: Unclaimed Land

The complication is that the property has no registered owner. The local council has stated it can't remove the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until land ownership had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a designated spot beside his house, but it is too narrow to be useful so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had verified with both the shop and the council that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a reliable small vehicle that was economical and easy to keep on the road. It signified I could at last focus on trying to save up to take my child on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The officers turned up and closed the zone off. We all had to stay in the houses because we can't get out without passing by the hole. The road crew came out, erected the fence up, and then they came out and placed a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unfortunate remnant of a historic local mine, a abandoned mining site.

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

A Potential Solution

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

The vehicle has been significantly harmed and is probably to be declared a total loss. "On the bright side I can say my Mini went out in style – not everyone can say their car was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Authority Response

A spokesperson from the local council said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on council land. We have secured the location and informed the vehicle owner that we will organize to lift the fence to enable him to retrieve the car.

"As the land is unregistered, our safety measures will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will persist to monitor the surrounding area to guarantee public safety."