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The first indication Malcolm McKenzie received of his predicament was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his door and informed him his beloved Mini had fallen into a opening.

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

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

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Land

The complication is that the property has no registered owner. The authorities has stated it can't remove the barriers cordoning off the sinkhole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the area in Redruth for about a decade and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is not wide enough to be practical so he began parking outside a nearby bakery. He had verified with both the bakery and the council that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a dependable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It signified I could at last focus on trying to save up to take my child on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then came that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was very alarmed. The police arrived and secured the area off. We all had to stay 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 came out and placed a additional barrier 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 separated from his vehicle for a short period. But days have now become weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An end may be in sight. The council has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – lift the barriers to allow the Mini to be removed. He commented: "They have agreed to assist my insurance company's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an acceptable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at danger."

The car has been badly damaged and is probably to be written off. "At least I can say my Mini went out in style – not everyone can claim their car was swallowed by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Authority Statement

A representative from the local council expressed it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not occur on council land. We have secured the location and advised the vehicle owner that we will arrange to lift the fence to enable him to retrieve the vehicle.

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