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Two individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the huge mound of waste deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a recent revelation which uncovered the presence of in excess of 500 unlawful tips in England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities stated that the arrests were for ecological and financial crimes and constituted a "key step" in continuing probes. Both men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to house around 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of waste is composed of what seems to be treated household refuse, shredded plastic materials, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household objects.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. These include a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual number of such major locations is expected to be larger, as the regulatory body has previously stated it does not maintain data on weight for each unlawful tip.

The majority these sites are in rural locations, often hidden, and on land that should be arable ground.

Organized Activity

Law enforcement state many are run by criminal organizations, who are generating money by demanding significantly less than lawful firms to accept and dispose of garbage.

Companies have to incur site fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the amount and type of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Anger

Preparatory operations to clean up the Kidlington area location commenced earlier this month due to fears over the risk of blaze and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted waste clearance firm has been awarded the job to handle the location over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national environment unit stated that the authority would be aiming to recoup the remediation expenses under asset recovery laws from anyone successfully found guilty at the termination of its active investigation.

She noted that this week's arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "pursue more avenues to determine precisely what occurred and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at the site was an atrocious and calculated attack on our natural surroundings and the authorities understand the community's outrage at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A cabinet minister supported the arrests, adding: "The unauthorized deposit of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to considerable harm to the ecology and distress to the local community.

"The authorities is dedicated to eliminating this type of crime in the UK, by increasing financing to combat environmental crime, employing more personnel and introducing more severe checks and sanctions for those who flout the rules."

The apprehensions were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a specialist serious crime squad and come after an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in November. He was set free awaiting more inquiries.