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The first indication Malcolm McKenzie received of his predicament was when a person living nearby loudly knocked on his front door and informed him his beloved Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I went out anticipating a minor dip under a tire or something similar. But when I walked out to check it out, I understood, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he stated.

His vehicle had dropped into a 3-metre wide gap, possibly created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has spent 25 days stuck in a administrative "nightmare" trying to figure out how to retrieve his Mini.

The Main Issue: Unregistered Property

The complication is that the land isn't registered. The local council has stated it won't take down the fences blocking off the hole until property rights had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance creative. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about a decade and actually has a parking space next to his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had checked 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 meant I could at last focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan someday. She's always wanted to go."

The Event and Consequences

Then arrived that loud rapping on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The police arrived and closed the area off. We all had to remain in the homes because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The highways people arrived, put the barrier up, and then they returned and placed a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is believed the hole may be an unfortunate legacy 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 turned into weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be in sight. The authorities has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers to permit the Mini to be removed. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurer's retrieval crew and try to arrange a date and an acceptable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The vehicle has been badly damaged and is likely to be declared a total loss. "On the bright side I can say my Mini went out in style – not everyone can say their vehicle was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie remarked.

Authority Response

A representative from the authorities expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "The ground giving way did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and advised the vehicle owner that we will organize to lift the barrier to enable 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 guarantee everyone's security."