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

"I stepped outside expecting a minor dip under a wheel or something similar. But when I walked out to check it out, I realized, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he explained.

His automobile had dropped into a 10-foot wide opening, likely caused by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a bureaucratic "difficult situation" trying to determine how to retrieve his Mini.

The Core Issue: Unregistered Land

The complication is that the land isn't registered. The authorities has stated it won't take down the fences blocking 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 neighborhood in Redruth for about a decade and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is too narrow to be useful so he began parking outside a nearby bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the local authority that he wouldn't get a ticket.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a dependable small vehicle 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 daughter on her aspirational journey 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 turned up and closed the zone off. We all had to stay in the houses because we couldn't leave without passing by the collapse. The road crew came out, erected the barrier up, and then they came out and placed a additional barrier up surrounding it as well."

It is believed the opening may be an unfortunate remnant of a historic local mine, a disused copper and tin mine.

McKenzie thought he would be without his vehicle for a short period. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Potential Resolution

An end may be in sight. The council has stated it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the barriers to permit the Mini to be removed. He commented: "They are willing to work with my insurance company's recovery team and try to arrange a day and an acceptable way of extracting it that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The car has been badly damaged and is likely to be written off. "On the bright side I can say my Mini met its end in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their car was eaten by the Earth itself," McKenzie noted.

Council Response

A spokesperson from the authorities expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and advised the vehicle owner that we will arrange to lift the barrier to allow him to retrieve the vehicle.

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will continue to monitor the surrounding area to guarantee public safety."