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The first indication Malcolm McKenzie received of his predicament was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and told him his beloved Mini had fallen into a hole.

"I went out anticipating a small pothole under a wheel or something similar. But when I went out to take a look, I realized, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he explained.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide gap, likely caused by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to figure out how to extricate his car.

The Core Problem: Unregistered Land

The hitch is that the land isn't registered. The authorities has said it won't take down the fences blocking off the sinkhole 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 a decade and actually has a parking space next to his house, but it is not wide enough to be practical so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had verified with both the bakery and the council that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and simple 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 always wanted to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was very alarmed. The police turned up and secured the zone off. We all had to remain in the houses because we couldn't leave without passing by the collapse. The road crew arrived, put the barrier up, and then they came out and put a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unlucky remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a disused copper and tin mine.

McKenzie thought he would be separated from his car for a short period. But that short time have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Solution

An end may be in sight. The council has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – lift the fences to permit the Mini to be removed. He said: "They are willing to work with my insurer's retrieval crew and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at risk."

The car has been badly damaged 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 ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Authority Response

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

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