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The first sign the local man had of his predicament was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and informed him his beloved Mini had fallen into a hole.

"I went out anticipating a small pothole under a tire or something similar. But when I walked out to take a look, I realized, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he stated.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide opening, possibly created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days caught in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to determine how to retrieve his Mini.

The Main Problem: Unregistered Property

The complication is that the land has no registered owner. The local council has said it can't remove the barriers cordoning off the hole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a parking space beside his house, but it is not wide enough to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had verified with both the bakery and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a ticket.

"I'd finally felt like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable little car that was economical 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 one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then arrived that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The officers turned up and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we couldn't leave without going past the collapse. The highways people arrived, put the barrier up, and then they returned and placed a additional barrier up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unlucky remnant of a historic local mine, a disused mining site.

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

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be approaching. The council has said it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers to allow the Mini to be removed. He commented: "They have agreed to assist my insurer's retrieval crew and try to arrange a date 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 went out in a memorable way – not everyone can say their car was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Statement

A representative from the authorities expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not occur on council land. We have secured the location and informed the vehicle owner that we will organize to temporarily remove the barrier to allow him to retrieve the vehicle.

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will stay up until land ownership has been established, and we will continue to observe the surrounding area to ensure public safety."