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

"I went out expecting a small pothole under a wheel or something similar. But when I walked out to check it out, I understood, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he explained.

His vehicle had descended into a 10-foot wide opening, possibly caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days caught in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to figure out how to retrieve his car.

The Main Issue: Unregistered Property

The complication is that the property has no registered owner. The local council has stated 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. "It's red tape everywhere."

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 not wide enough to be useful so he began parking outside a nearby bakery. He had checked with both the shop and the local authority that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a reliable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It meant I could at last focus on trying to put money aside to take my daughter on her aspirational journey 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. "The person next door was very alarmed. The police turned up and secured the area off. We all had to stay in the homes because we can't get out without going past the hole. The road crew came out, erected the barrier up, and then they came out and put a second fence up around it as well."

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

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

A Possible Resolution

An end may be in sight. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the fences to allow the Mini to be removed. He commented: "They are willing to work with my insurer's retrieval crew and try to arrange a date and an suitable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The vehicle has been badly damaged and is likely to be declared a total loss. "At least I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their car was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Authority Response

A representative from the authorities expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not occur on public property. We have secured the location and advised the car owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the barrier to allow him to recover 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 vicinity to ensure public safety."