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The first sign Malcolm McKenzie had of his situation was when a neighbor urgently banged on his front door and told him his beloved Mini had plunged into a opening.

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

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

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Land

The complication is that the land isn't registered. The authorities has said it won't take down the fences cordoning off the sinkhole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about a decade 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 verified with both the bakery and the council that he wouldn't get a ticket.

"I had finally reached a point like I was making progress, I had a dependable small vehicle that was economical and simple to keep on the road. It meant 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 Incident and Aftermath

Then arrived that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The officers turned up and secured the area off. We all had to remain in the houses because we can't get out without passing by the hole. The road crew arrived, erected the barrier up, and then they came out and placed a second fence up surrounding it as well."

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

McKenzie thought he would be without his vehicle for a few days. But days have now become weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be approaching. The council has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the fences to allow the Mini to be removed. He said: "They are willing to assist my insurer's retrieval crew and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of extracting it 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 met its end in style – not everyone can say their vehicle was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie remarked.

Council Response

A representative from the local council said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on public property. We have secured the location and informed the car owner that we will organize to temporarily remove the fence to enable him to retrieve the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will remain in place until land ownership has been determined, and we will persist to monitor the surrounding area to guarantee public safety."