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The first indication the local man received of his predicament was when a person living nearby urgently banged on his door and told him his beloved Mini had fallen into a opening.

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a tire or something similar. But when I went out to check it out, I understood, oh, that really is a proper hole," he explained.

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

The Core Issue: Unclaimed Property

The complication is that the property has no registered owner. The local council has stated it can't remove the fences blocking off the sinkhole until property rights had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a parking space next to his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the shop 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 simple to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to put money aside to take my child on her aspirational journey to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Aftermath

Then arrived that loud rapping on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The officers turned up and secured the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The highways people came out, erected the fence up, and then they returned and placed a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is believed the opening may be an unfortunate legacy of a historic local mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie thought he would be without his car for a few days. But that short time have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Solution

An conclusion may be in sight. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the fences to permit the car to be removed. He said: "They have agreed to assist my insurer's recovery team 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 significantly harmed and is probably to be written off. "At least I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their car was swallowed by the Earth itself," McKenzie remarked.

Council Response

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "The ground giving way did not occur on public property. We have secured the location and informed the vehicle owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the fence to enable him to recover the car.

"As the land is unregistered, our barriers will remain in place until land ownership has been determined, and we will continue to monitor the surrounding area to ensure everyone's security."