Cornwall Man Loses Vehicle in Unexpected Ground Collapse

The first indication Malcolm McKenzie received of his situation was when a neighbor urgently banged on his door and informed him his cherished Mini had fallen into a opening.

"I stepped outside expecting a small pothole under a wheel or something similar. But when I went out to check it out, I understood, oh, that really is a proper hole," he stated.

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

The Main Issue: Unclaimed Property

The complication is that the property isn't registered. The local council has stated it can't remove the barriers blocking off the hole until property rights had been confirmed. "It's quite a difficult situation," said McKenzie, 36, a self-employed creative. "There's bureaucracy at every turn."

McKenzie has resided in the area in Redruth for about a decade and in fact 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 would avoid receiving a ticket.

"I had finally reached a point 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 at last focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her dream trip to Japan one day. She's always wanted to go."

The Incident and Consequences

Then came that loud rapping on a Saturday in November. "My neighbour was quite panicked. The police turned up and closed the area off. We all had to stay in the houses because we can't get out without going past the collapse. The highways people came out, put the fence up, and then they returned and put a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the hole may be an unlucky remnant of Pednandrea Mine, a disused mining site.

McKenzie thought he would be separated from his vehicle for a short period. But that short time have now become weeks.

A Possible Resolution

An end may be approaching. The council has said it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the barriers to allow the car to be recovered. He said: "They are willing to work with my insurer's recovery team and try to schedule a date and an suitable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The car has been significantly harmed and is likely to be written off. "On the bright side 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.

Authority Response

A spokesperson from the local council expressed it felt sorry with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and informed the vehicle owner that we will arrange to temporarily remove the fence to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"Since no one owns the land, our safety measures will remain in place until property ownership has been determined, and we will continue to observe the vicinity to ensure public safety."