A man is counting his blessings after his Mini Cooper was almost swallowed by a sinkhole – leaving officials worried their rescue vehicle could go with it.
The car became trapped when the ground underneath it gave way on Saturday afternoon outside Berrymans Bakery in Redruth, Cornwall.
A neighbour told owner, Malcolm McKenzie about his car – where he found it trapped in a hole with the bonnet raised a foot in the air.
Mr McKenzie recalled: ‘The neighbour phoned 999 because they were worried about the hole getting bigger.
‘Police closed the area off, and Highways came out later to put fences up around it.’
The Cornwall mining town has faced similar problems in the past, and authorities are questioning whether the sinkhole is a disused mineshaft.
Authorities are also questioning how to free the car before it falls deeper into the sinkhole, and doing it in a way that won’t cause more of the earth to collapse with it.
They are worried a recovery truck could also be swallowed by the ground.
A neighbour told owner, Malcolm McKenzie about his car – where he found it trapped in a hole with the bonnet raised a foot in the air
Authorities are also questioning how to free the car before it falls deeper into the sinkhole, and doing it in a way that won’t cause more of the earth to collapse with it
Mr McKenzie said: ‘They can’t get a crane to it because of where it is, and they can’t pull it forwards because there isn’t enough space to get a recovery truck in front of it, so it’s going to have to be pulled sideways, which will do damage to the side of the car.’
He also took to social media to say he was glad he wasn’t in the car at the time.
‘Was meant to be going out in it and literally at the time that it happened would be when we were getting in it, but I didn’t feel like going,’ Mr McKenzie explained.
A council representative arrived to take photos of the scene, but it’s not yet clear what the next steps will be or the extent of the car’s damage.
He is unsure how long it will take to retrieve the car, and is convinced part of it has been battered based on how he saw a part of the bottom that appeared crumpled underneath.
‘The back of the car was dragged down the wall of the bakery, and that’s the only thing that’s stopping it from falling further into the hole – the fact that it’s caught on a little concrete lip of the foundation.
‘There was also a lot of condensation in the car yesterday morning, so I’m going to guess the back window is broken.
‘Until it comes out, I can’t really see anything else.
A council representative arrived to take photos of the scene, but it’s not yet clear what the next steps will be or the extent of the car’s damage
Mr McKenzie said the timing is unfortunate because he just put it through a Ministry of Transport check two weeks ago and resprayed it
‘I have put all of my money into it. I can’t work because of health problems, so it took me a long time to save up for it.’
He said the timing is unfortunate because he just put it through a Ministry of Transport check two weeks ago and resprayed it.
The mechanic also told him it was the nicest mini he’d ever worked on.
‘But it’s a piece of metal at the end of the day.’
All that concerns Mr McKenzie is being able to grab his sentimental toolbox that he received as a gift from his parents when he turned 16.
He said: ‘As long as I get that back, the rest can be replaced.’
But the Mini driver also saw the funny side and joked: ‘Might do an oil change while I’ve got it up there.’
Meanwhile, locals also laughed along at the situation on social media, with one person commenting: ‘How is he supposed to get to work on Monday morning?’
Another joked that the car was ‘going on a Mini adventure,’ while another said: ‘You can’t park there!’
Mr McKenzie said, ‘You’ve just got to laugh – getting upset isn’t going to help anything!’
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with repair costs.
