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The initial indication Malcolm McKenzie had of his predicament was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and told him his beloved Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I went out 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 10-foot wide gap, possibly created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a administrative "nightmare" trying to figure out how to extricate his car.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Property

The complication is that the land has no registered owner. The authorities has said it can't remove the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has lived in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a designated spot next to his house, but it is not wide enough to be useful so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had verified 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 dependable little car 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 aspirational journey to Japan someday. 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 arrived and secured the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we can't get out without passing by the collapse. The highways people arrived, put the barrier up, and then they returned and put a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unlucky remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned copper and tin mine.

McKenzie believed he would be without his car for a few days. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Possible Solution

An end may be approaching. The authorities has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the barriers to allow the Mini to be recovered. He said: "They have agreed to assist my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a date and an suitable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at danger."

The car has been significantly harmed and is likely to be written off. "On the bright side I can say my Mini went out in style – not everyone can say their car was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Authority Response

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "The ground giving way did not happen on council land. We have secured the location and informed the car owner that we will arrange to lift the barrier to enable him to recover the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will continue to monitor the vicinity to ensure everyone's security."