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The initial sign the local man had of his predicament was when a person living nearby loudly knocked on his front door and told him his beloved Mini had plunged into a opening.

"I stepped outside anticipating a minor dip under a wheel or something similar. But when I went out to take a look, I understood, oh, that really is a proper hole," he stated.

His vehicle had descended into a 3-metre wide opening, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a administrative "nightmare" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Land

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The local council has stated it can't remove the barriers cordoning off the hole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," 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 designated spot beside 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 shop and the council that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was making progress, I had a reliable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and simple 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 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 officers arrived and secured the zone off. We all had to remain in the homes because we can't get out without passing by the collapse. The road crew arrived, erected the fence up, and then they returned and placed a second fence up surrounding it as well."

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

McKenzie thought he would be separated from his car for a few days. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be in sight. The council has said it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the fences to permit the Mini to be recovered. He said: "They have agreed to assist my insurance company's retrieval crew and try to arrange a day and an suitable way of extracting it that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The car has been badly damaged and is likely to be written off. "On the bright side I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their car was swallowed by the Earth itself," McKenzie remarked.

Council Response

A representative from the local council said it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not occur on council land. We have secured the location and informed the vehicle owner that we will organize to temporarily remove the fence to enable him to recover the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will stay up until land ownership has been established, and we will continue to observe the surrounding area to ensure everyone's security."