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Two individuals have been arrested as part of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of tonnes of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials reported that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in connection with the massive mound of garbage tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests occur a week after a prior investigation which exposed the presence of over 500 unauthorized tips across England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the environment body stated that the detentions were for environmental and financial crimes and constituted a "vital step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Problem

The illegal site in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to house around 21,000 tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is consists of what appears to be processed domestic waste, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted everyday objects.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal sites in England, at least 11 of which hold over 20,000 tonnes of garbage. They encompass a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total figure of such major sites is likely to be greater, as the environmental authority has in the past acknowledged it does not maintain information on tonnage for every unlawful dump.

Most sites are in countryside locations, often hidden, and on land that should be arable property.

Criminal Activity

Law enforcement state a significant number are run by criminal organizations, who are earning money by asking for significantly less than lawful operators to take and bury garbage.

Firms have to incur disposal fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the volume and type of refuse they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Frustration

Preparatory work to remove the Kidlington area dump commenced recently amid concerns over the risk of combustion and the impact that would have on the adjacent major road.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been granted the job to deal with the location over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national environmental crime unit stated that the body would be aiming to recover the clean-up costs under proceeds of crime legislation from any party ultimately prosecuted at the end of its active case.

She noted that these detentions would help "move the probe forward" and enable authorities to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful tip at Kidlington was an atrocious and intentional attack on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the public's outrage at this egregious crime," she stated.

A senior minister praised the actions, commenting: "The unlawful dumping of rubbish at the site is appalling and has caused considerable detriment to the environment and upset to the local residents.

"The administration is pledged to eradicating this kind of illegal activity throughout the nation, by augmenting resources to tackle environmental crime, hiring more officers and enacting more severe measures and fines for those who violate the regulations."

The apprehensions were carried out on a recent Thursday by personnel from a dedicated organised crime squad and are in addition to an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in the autumn. He was set free awaiting additional enquiries.