Cornwall Man Loses Vehicle in Mysterious Ground Collapse

The first indication the local man received of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his front door and informed him his beloved Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a tire or something similar. But when I walked out to take a look, I understood, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he explained.

His automobile had dropped into a 3-metre wide gap, possibly created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days caught in a administrative "difficult situation" trying to determine how to extricate his car.

The Core Problem: Unregistered Property

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The local council has said it can't remove the fences cordoning off the hole until land ownership had been established. "It's quite a difficult situation," 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 beside his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a nearby bakery. He had checked with both the shop and the local authority that he wouldn't get a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was making progress, 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 put money aside to take my child on her aspirational journey to Japan one day. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then arrived that knock on the door on Saturday 1 November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The police turned up and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the homes because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The road crew came out, erected the fence up, and then they came out and put a second fence up surrounding it as well."

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

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

A Possible Solution

An end may be approaching. The council has said it will work with McKenzie to – briefly – remove the barriers 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 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 declared a total loss. "At least I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can claim their vehicle was swallowed by the ground beneath them," McKenzie remarked.

Council Statement

A representative from the authorities expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it added: "This collapse did not occur on council land. We have made the area safe and informed the car owner that we will organize to lift the barrier to enable him to recover the car.

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