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The initial sign Malcolm McKenzie received of his situation was when a person living nearby urgently banged on his front door and told him his beloved Mini had fallen into a opening.

"I stepped outside expecting a small pothole under a tire or something similar. But when I went out to take a look, I understood, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he explained.

His vehicle had descended into a 3-metre wide gap, possibly created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Core Problem: Unregistered Property

The hitch is that the land isn't registered. The local council has stated it won't take down the barriers cordoning off the hole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a designated spot beside his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable little car that was economical and easy to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to put money aside to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Aftermath

Then came that knock on the door on Saturday 1 November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The police turned up and secured the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we couldn't leave without passing by the hole. The road crew came out, put the fence up, and then they returned and put a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is believed the hole may be an unfortunate legacy of a historic local mine, a abandoned copper and tin mine.

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

A Potential Resolution

An end may be in sight. The authorities has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the fences to permit the Mini to be recovered. He commented: "They have agreed to work with my insurance company's retrieval crew and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at danger."

The car has been significantly harmed and is likely to be written off. "At least I can say my Mini went out in style – not everyone can say their vehicle was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Council Statement

A representative from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not occur on public property. We have secured the location and informed the car owner that we will organize to temporarily remove the barrier to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will stay up until property ownership has been determined, and we will persist to monitor the surrounding area to ensure public safety."