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The initial sign the local man received of his situation was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and told him his beloved Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I stepped outside expecting a minor dip under a wheel or something similar. But when I walked out to check it out, I realized, oh, that truly is a proper hole," he stated.

His automobile had dropped into a 3-metre wide opening, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "nightmare" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Land

The hitch is that the property isn't registered. The authorities has stated it won't take down the fences blocking off the sinkhole until land ownership had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a designated spot next to 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 wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was making progress, I had a reliable little car that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It meant I could finally focus on trying to put money aside to take my child on her dream trip to Japan someday. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then arrived that loud rapping on Saturday 1 November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The officers arrived and secured the zone off. We all had to stay in the homes because we couldn't leave without passing by the hole. The road crew came out, erected the barrier up, and then they returned and put a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is believed the hole may be an unlucky remnant of a historic local mine, a abandoned copper and tin mine.

McKenzie believed he would be separated from his vehicle for a few days. But days have now become weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be approaching. The council has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – lift the barriers to allow the car to be recovered. He commented: "They have agreed to work with my insurance company's recovery team and try to schedule a date and an acceptable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The car has been badly damaged and is probably to be written off. "At least I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can say their car was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Response

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not occur on public property. We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will organize to lift the barrier to allow him to retrieve the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our barriers will remain in place until land ownership has been determined, and we will persist to observe the vicinity to guarantee public safety."