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The first indication Malcolm McKenzie received of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his front door and told him his cherished Mini had fallen into a opening.

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a wheel or something like that. But when I went out to take a look, I understood, oh, that really is a significant cavity," he stated.

His automobile had dropped into a 3-metre wide gap, likely caused by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has spent 25 days caught in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Property

The hitch is that the land isn't registered. The authorities has stated it can't remove the barriers blocking off the hole until property rights had been established. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed designer. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has lived in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a parking space beside his house, but it is not wide enough to be useful so he began parking outside a nearby bakery. He had verified with both the shop 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 simple to keep on the road. It meant I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my child on her aspirational journey to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Consequences

Then arrived that loud rapping on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The police arrived and closed the zone off. We all had to stay in the homes because we can't get out without passing by the collapse. The highways people came out, erected the fence up, and then they returned and put a second fence up around it as well."

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

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

A Potential Resolution

An end may be approaching. The authorities has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the fences to allow the car to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at risk."

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

Authority Response

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen 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.

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