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The initial indication the local man had of his situation was when a neighbor urgently banged on his front door and told him his cherished 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 proper hole," he explained.

His automobile had descended into a 3-metre wide opening, possibly caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days caught in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Main Issue: Unregistered Land

The hitch is that the property has no registered owner. The authorities has said it won't take down the fences cordoning off the sinkhole until property rights had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," 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 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 making progress, I had a reliable little car that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan someday. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The officers turned up and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the homes because we couldn't leave without going past the collapse. The highways people arrived, put the barrier up, and then they returned and put a second fence up around it as well."

It is believed the hole may be an unfortunate legacy of Pednandrea Mine, a disused mining site.

McKenzie believed he would be separated from his car for a short period. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Possible Resolution

An end may be approaching. The authorities has said it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers to permit the car to be recovered. He commented: "They have agreed to work with my insurer's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an suitable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at risk."

The car has been significantly harmed and is probably to be declared a total loss. "On the bright side I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can say their vehicle was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Authority Response

A representative from the local council said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on council land. We have secured the location and advised the vehicle owner that we will organize to temporarily remove the barrier to allow him to retrieve the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will stay up until property ownership has been determined, and we will continue to monitor the surrounding area to guarantee everyone's security."