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The initial sign the local man had of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his door and informed him his cherished Mini had plunged into a opening.

"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 proper hole," he explained.

His automobile had descended into a 3-metre wide opening, likely caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to figure out how to extricate his car.

The Main Problem: Unregistered Land

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

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a parking space next to his house, but it is too narrow to be useful so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the shop and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a ticket.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It signified 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 Event and Aftermath

Then came that loud rapping on Saturday 1 November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The police turned up and closed the area off. We all had to remain in the houses because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The road crew arrived, erected the barrier up, and then they came out and put a additional barrier up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unlucky legacy of a historic local mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie believed he would be separated from his vehicle for a short period. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be in sight. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers to allow the Mini to be removed. He said: "They have agreed to work with my insurer's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an suitable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at danger."

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 a memorable way – not everyone can claim their car was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Council Response

A representative from the authorities said it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on council land. We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will organize to lift the barrier to enable him to recover the vehicle.

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