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The initial sign Malcolm McKenzie had of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his door and informed him his cherished Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I stepped outside anticipating a small pothole under a wheel or something like that. But when I went out to check it out, I understood, oh, that really is a proper hole," he explained.

His vehicle had dropped into a 3-metre wide gap, possibly created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a administrative "nightmare" trying to figure out how to retrieve his car.

The Main Problem: Unregistered Land

The complication is that the land has no registered owner. The local council has said it won't take down the fences cordoning off the sinkhole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has lived in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a nearby bakery. He had verified with both the bakery and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a reliable little car that was economical and easy to keep on the road. It meant I could finally focus on trying to put money aside to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then arrived that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was very alarmed. The officers arrived and secured the zone 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 barrier up, and then they came out and put a additional barrier up around it as well."

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

McKenzie thought he would be separated from his vehicle for a few days. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Possible Resolution

An end may be in sight. The authorities has stated it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the barriers to allow the car to be removed. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurer's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an suitable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at danger."

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.

Council Statement

A representative from the authorities said it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse 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 barrier to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our barriers will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will persist to monitor the vicinity to guarantee public safety."