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The initial indication the local man had of his predicament was when a neighbor urgently banged on his front door and informed him his beloved Mini had fallen into a hole.

"I went out expecting a small pothole under a tire or something similar. But when I walked 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 caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a bureaucratic "nightmare" trying to figure out how to retrieve his Mini.

The Main Issue: Unregistered Land

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The local council has stated it can't remove the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance creative. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has resided in the neighborhood in Redruth for about a decade and in fact has a parking space next to his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the council that he wouldn't get a ticket.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a dependable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan someday. She's always wanted to go."

The Event and Consequences

Then came that knock on the door on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The police arrived and secured the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we couldn't leave without going past the hole. The road crew arrived, erected the barrier up, and then they returned and put a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is believed the hole may be an unlucky remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a disused mining site.

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

A Possible Solution

An conclusion may be approaching. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the fences to permit 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 acceptable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at danger."

The vehicle has been badly damaged and is likely to be declared a total loss. "On the bright side I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their vehicle was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Council Response

A representative from the authorities expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "The ground giving way did not happen on council land. We have secured the location and advised the car owner that we will organize to lift the fence to allow him to recover the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will stay up until land ownership has been established, and we will continue to observe the surrounding area to guarantee public safety."