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The initial indication the local man received of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his front door and informed him his cherished Mini had fallen into a opening.

"I stepped outside anticipating a minor dip under a wheel or something like that. But when I walked out to take a look, I understood, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he explained.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide gap, likely created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has spent 25 days caught in a administrative "nightmare" trying to figure out how to extricate his car.

The Main Problem: Unclaimed Land

The hitch is that the property has no registered owner. The local council has stated it won't take down the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a parking space next to his house, but it is not wide enough to be practical so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had verified with both the shop and the council that he would avoid receiving a ticket.

"I'd finally felt 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 at last focus on trying to put money aside to take my daughter on her aspirational journey to Japan someday. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Consequences

Then arrived that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The police turned up and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the homes because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The road crew came out, erected the fence up, and then they came out and put a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unlucky legacy of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie believed he would be without his car for a short period. But that short time have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An end may be approaching. The authorities has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – lift the barriers to permit the car to be recovered. He commented: "They have agreed to assist my insurance company'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 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 car was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Statement

A spokesperson from the authorities said 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 car owner that we will arrange to lift the fence to enable him to retrieve 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 monitor the vicinity to ensure everyone's security."