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The first sign the local man received of his predicament was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and told him his beloved Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I went out expecting a small pothole under a wheel or something like that. But when I walked out to check it out, I realized, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he stated.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide gap, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to figure out how to retrieve his car.

The Core Problem: Unregistered Property

The hitch is that the land has no registered owner. The authorities has said it won't take down the barriers blocking off the hole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact 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 council that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a reliable small vehicle that was economical and simple to keep on the road. It meant I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her aspirational journey to Japan someday. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then came that knock on the door on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The officers arrived and secured the zone off. We all had to remain in the houses because we couldn't leave without passing by the collapse. The highways people arrived, erected the barrier up, and then they returned and put a second fence up surrounding it as well."

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

McKenzie believed he would be without his vehicle for a short period. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be approaching. The council has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the barriers to permit the Mini to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurer's recovery team and try to arrange a date and an suitable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at danger."

The vehicle has been significantly harmed 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 say their vehicle was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Response

A spokesperson from the authorities said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "The ground giving way did not occur on council land. We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will organize to lift the barrier to allow him to recover the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our barriers will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will persist to observe the surrounding area to guarantee public safety."