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The initial sign the local man had of his situation was when a person living nearby urgently banged on his front door and informed him his cherished Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I went out anticipating a small pothole under a tire or something like that. But when I walked out to check it out, I realized, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he stated.

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

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Property

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The authorities has stated it can't remove the fences cordoning off the hole until land ownership had been established. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has lived in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact 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 shop and the council that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a dependable 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 one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then arrived that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The police turned up and secured the zone off. We all had to remain in the homes because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The road crew came out, put the fence up, and then they came out and placed a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unfortunate legacy of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned copper and tin mine.

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

A Potential Solution

An end may be approaching. The council has stated it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the fences to allow the car to be recovered. He said: "They have agreed to work with my insurance company's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an suitable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at risk."

The car has been badly damaged and is probably to be written off. "At least I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their vehicle was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie remarked.

Council Response

A spokesperson from the authorities said it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not occur on council land. We have secured the location and advised the vehicle owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the fence to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will remain in place until land ownership has been established, and we will continue to observe the surrounding area to guarantee everyone's security."