Cornwall Man Loses Car in Mysterious Ground Collapse

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

"I stepped outside expecting a minor dip under a wheel or something like that. But when I went out to take a look, I realized, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he explained.

His automobile had descended into a 10-foot wide gap, likely created by a mineshaft collapse, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "nightmare" trying to figure out how to extricate his car.

The Main Problem: Unregistered Property

The hitch is that the property isn't registered. The authorities has said it won't take down the fences blocking off the sinkhole until land ownership had been established. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the neighborhood in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is too narrow to be useful so he began parking outside a local bakery. He had verified with both the bakery and the local authority that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I'd finally felt like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable small vehicle 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 aspirational journey to Japan one day. She's always wanted to go."

The Event and Consequences

Then came that knock on the door on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was quite panicked. The officers turned up and closed the area off. We all had to remain in the houses because we can't get out without going past the hole. The highways people came out, put the barrier up, and then they returned and placed a second fence up around it as well."

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

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

A Possible Solution

An conclusion may be in sight. The council has stated it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – lift the fences to allow the car to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurer's recovery team and try to schedule a date and an acceptable way of getting it out that ensures no anybody at danger."

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

Authority Statement

A spokesperson from the authorities said it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "The ground giving way did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and informed the vehicle owner that we will organize to lift the fence to enable him to recover the car.

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