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The first 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 plunged into a opening.

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

His automobile had dropped into a 3-metre wide opening, possibly caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "nightmare" trying to figure out how to extricate his Mini.

The Main Issue: Unregistered Land

The hitch is that the property has no registered owner. The local council has said it won't take down the fences cordoning off the hole until property rights had been established. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a parking space next to his house, but it is too narrow to be useful so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable little car that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It signified I could at last focus on trying to save up to take my child on her aspirational journey to Japan someday. She's always wanted to go."

The Incident and Consequences

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 hole. The road crew came out, erected the fence up, and then they returned and put a additional barrier up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unlucky remnant of a historic local mine, a disused copper and tin mine.

McKenzie thought he would be separated from his car for a short period. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Possible Resolution

An conclusion may be in sight. The council has said it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the barriers to allow the Mini to be removed. He commented: "They have agreed to work with my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at danger."

The vehicle has been badly damaged and is probably to be written off. "On the bright side I can say my Mini met its end in style – not everyone can say their car was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Statement

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "The ground giving way did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the barrier to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our safety measures will remain in place until property ownership has been established, and we will persist to observe the surrounding area to ensure public safety."