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The first indication Malcolm McKenzie received of his predicament was when a person living nearby loudly knocked on his front door and told him his cherished Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I stepped outside anticipating a small pothole under a wheel or something like that. But when I went out to check it out, I realized, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he explained.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide opening, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a administrative "nightmare" trying to figure out how to retrieve his Mini.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Land

The complication is that the land has no registered owner. The local council has said it won't take down the barriers cordoning off the hole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the area in Redruth for about a decade and actually has a parking space beside his house, but it is too narrow to be useful so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had verified with both the shop and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a dependable 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 child on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event 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 stay 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 placed a second fence up surrounding it as well."

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

McKenzie thought he would be without his car for a few days. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Possible Resolution

An end may be in sight. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers to permit the Mini to be recovered. He said: "They are willing to assist my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a date and an suitable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The car has been significantly harmed and is likely to be declared a total loss. "At least I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can say their vehicle was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Council Statement

A spokesperson from the authorities said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not happen on council land. We have made the area safe and advised the vehicle owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the barrier to allow him to recover the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our safety measures will remain in place until property ownership has been determined, and we will continue to observe the vicinity to ensure public safety."