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

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

His vehicle had descended into a 10-foot wide gap, possibly created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days caught in a administrative "nightmare" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Core Issue: Unregistered Property

The hitch is that the land has no registered owner. The authorities has said it can't remove the fences blocking off the hole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance creative. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has resided in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is not wide enough to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the shop and the local authority that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, 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 save up to take my child on her dream trip to Japan someday. She's always wanted to go."

The Incident and Aftermath

Then came that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The officers arrived and secured the zone off. We all had to remain in the homes because we can't get out without going past the hole. The highways people arrived, erected the barrier up, and then they came out and put a second fence up around it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unlucky remnant of a historic local mine, a abandoned copper and tin mine.

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

A Possible Resolution

An conclusion may be approaching. The council has stated it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the fences to permit the Mini to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to work with my insurance company's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an suitable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at risk."

The car has been significantly harmed and is probably to be written off. "On the bright side I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can say their vehicle was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Statement

A spokesperson from the authorities expressed it sympathised with McKenzie. But it added: "The ground giving way did not occur on council land. We have made the area safe and informed the car owner that we will organize to temporarily remove the fence to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our safety measures will stay up until property ownership has been established, and we will continue to monitor the vicinity to ensure everyone's security."