A man's car has been stuck in a sink hole in Redruth for nearly a month - as officials try to figure how to move it, writes SWNS reporter Tom Bevan.

Malcolm McKenzie's Mini Cooper became trapped after a freak sinkhole opened up outside a local bakery. The car remains in the same place three weeks later as officials work out who owns the land which is currently unregistered.

They also can't get a crane to go in to lift it out because the ground would be too dangerous and could collapse under it. The 10ft (3m) wide hole opened up due to old mine workings in Redruth.

Cornwall Council have said it will stay fenced off for now. A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: "While we have every sympathy with the car owner, this collapse did not occur on council land.

"We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will arrange to lift the barrier to enable him to recover the vehicle.

"As the land is unregistered, our barriers will remain in place until land ownership has been determined, and we will continue to monitor the surrounding area to ensure public safety."

Owner of the car, Malcolm, said: “My insurance company has offered to recover the car for free, which is good of them, but Cornwall Council says they can't take the fence down until they get written permission from the landowner - and there is no landowner.

''It was funny at first, I'm finding the whole thing really stressful now''.

Malcolm was told his car had fallen into a hole by a neighbour. He went outside to find the back end of his car trapped in a hole in the ground, with the front of the Mini raised about a foot in the air.

Redruth, a mining town, has had similar incidents in the past, with authorities suspecting the hole has opened up into a disused mineshaft.

Malcolm added: "I went outside and expected to find a pothole under one of the wheels - and then saw the front end of the car about four foot in the air. 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. There's definitely damage - you can see on the bottom where it's 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.

"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.

"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.

A link to the fundraiser can be found here: www.gofundme.com/f/my-mini-took-a-dive-into-a-mine-because-of-course-it-did