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The initial sign the local man received of his predicament was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and told him his cherished Mini had fallen into a hole.

"I stepped outside expecting a small pothole under a wheel or something like that. But when I walked out to check it out, I understood, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he stated.

His automobile had descended into a 3-metre wide opening, likely created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has spent 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "nightmare" trying to figure out how to extricate his Mini.

The Main Problem: Unregistered Property

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The local council has said it won't take down the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the area 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 started leaving his car outside a nearby bakery. He had verified with both the shop and the council that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was getting somewhere, I had a dependable small vehicle that was economical and simple to keep on the road. It signified I could at last focus on trying to put money aside to take my daughter on her aspirational journey to Japan someday. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Aftermath

Then arrived that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The officers arrived and closed the zone off. We all had to stay in the homes because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The road crew arrived, erected the fence up, and then they returned and put a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unlucky remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a disused mining site.

McKenzie thought he would be separated from his car for a few days. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An end may be in sight. The council has stated it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the barriers to permit the car to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurance company's retrieval crew and try to arrange a date and an acceptable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at risk."

The vehicle has been badly damaged and is likely to be written off. "On the bright side I can say my Mini went out in style – not everyone can say their car was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Authority Statement

A representative from the authorities said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not occur on public property. We have made the area safe and informed the vehicle owner that we will arrange to lift the fence to enable him to recover the car.

"As the land is unregistered, our barriers will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will persist to observe the vicinity to ensure public safety."