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

"I went out anticipating a small pothole under a tire or something like that. But when I went out to take a look, I understood, oh, that truly is a proper hole," he explained.

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

The Core Problem: Unclaimed Property

The complication is that the land isn't registered. The authorities has said it can't remove the fences cordoning off the hole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a designated spot next to his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a nearby bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the local authority that he wouldn't get a ticket.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a dependable little car that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It meant I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my child on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's always wanted to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The officers arrived and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the homes because we couldn't leave without passing by the hole. The highways people came out, put the fence up, and then they returned and placed a second fence up around it as well."

It is believed the opening may be an unfortunate legacy of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned copper and tin mine.

McKenzie believed he would be separated from his car for a few days. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Possible Solution

An conclusion may be approaching. The authorities has said it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers to permit the car to be removed. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurer's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an suitable way of extracting it that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The car has been badly damaged and is probably to be declared a total loss. "On the bright side I can say my Mini met its end in style – not everyone can say their vehicle was swallowed by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Council Response

A spokesperson from the local council said it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not occur on public property. We have secured the location and informed the car owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the barrier to enable him to recover the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will remain in place until land ownership has been established, and we will persist to observe the vicinity to guarantee everyone's security."