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

"I went out anticipating a minor dip under a wheel or something similar. But when I went out to take a look, I understood, oh, that truly is a proper hole," he stated.

His automobile had dropped into a 10-foot wide opening, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Main Problem: Unclaimed Land

The complication is that the land isn't registered. The authorities has said it won't take down the fences blocking off the hole 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 area in Redruth for about 10 years and actually has a parking space next to his house, but it is not wide enough to be useful so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had checked 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 little car that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It signified I could finally focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan someday. She's always wanted to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then arrived that loud rapping on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was very alarmed. The officers arrived and secured the area off. We all had to remain in the houses because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The highways people arrived, erected the fence up, and then they came out and placed a additional barrier up around it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unfortunate legacy of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie thought he would be without his vehicle for a few days. But days have now become weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An conclusion may be in sight. The authorities has stated it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – lift the fences to permit the Mini to be recovered. He said: "They are willing to work with my insurance company's retrieval crew and try to schedule a date and an acceptable way of extracting it that doesn't put anybody at danger."

The car has been significantly harmed and is likely to be written off. "At least I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their vehicle was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Authority Statement

A representative from the local council said it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not occur on public property. We have made the area safe and informed the vehicle owner that we will arrange to lift the barrier to allow him to retrieve the car.

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