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

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a tire or something similar. But when I went out to check it out, I realized, oh, that really is a proper hole," he stated.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide gap, likely created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a administrative "nightmare" trying to figure out how to retrieve his car.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Property

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The authorities has said it can't remove the fences cordoning off the sinkhole until land ownership had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," 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 started leaving his car outside a nearby bakery. He had verified with both the bakery and the council that he would avoid receiving a ticket.

"I'd finally felt like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It meant I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her aspirational journey to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The police turned up and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we can't get out without passing by the collapse. The road crew arrived, put the fence up, and then they came out and placed a second fence up around it as well."

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

McKenzie believed he would be without his vehicle for a short period. But days have now become weeks.

A Potential Solution

An end may be approaching. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – briefly – lift the barriers to permit the Mini to be recovered. He said: "They are willing to work with my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an suitable way of extracting it that doesn't put anybody at danger."

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

Council Statement

A representative from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will organize to lift the fence to allow him to retrieve the car.

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will remain in place until property ownership has been determined, and we will persist to observe the vicinity to guarantee everyone's security."