Redruth Resident Finds Vehicle in Mysterious Ground Collapse

The initial sign the local man received of his situation was when a person living nearby urgently banged on his door and informed him his beloved Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I went out expecting a minor dip under a tire or something like that. But when I walked out to take a look, I realized, oh, that really is a proper hole," he explained.

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

The Core Problem: Unclaimed Land

The hitch is that the land has no registered owner. The authorities has said it won't take down the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until land ownership had been confirmed. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance designer. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has resided 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 local bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the council that he wouldn't get a ticket.

"I'd finally felt like I was making progress, I had a dependable small vehicle that was fuel-efficient and simple to keep on the road. It signified I could at last focus on trying to save up to take my child on her aspirational journey to Japan someday. She's constantly dreamed to go."

The Event and Aftermath

Then arrived that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "The person next door was very alarmed. The officers arrived and closed the zone off. We all had to stay in the homes because we couldn't leave without passing by the collapse. The highways people came out, put the fence 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 legacy of Pednandrea Mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie believed he would be separated from his car for a short period. But days have now become weeks.

A Potential Solution

An end may be approaching. The council has stated it will work with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the barriers to permit the car to be recovered. He commented: "They are willing to assist my insurer's retrieval crew and try to schedule a date and an suitable way of extracting it that ensures no anybody at danger."

The vehicle 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 vehicle was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Authority Response

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

"Since no one owns the land, our barriers will remain in place until property ownership has been established, and we will continue to monitor the surrounding area to guarantee everyone's security."