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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of refuse in a field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in connection with the huge heap of rubbish dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a previous investigation which exposed the operation of more than 500 unlawful dumps in England, including at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment authorities stated that the arrests were for environment-related and money laundering violations and were a "crucial step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been set free on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to hold around 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of garbage is made up of what looks to be processed residential rubbish, chopped up plastic materials, polystyrene, tyres and assorted domestic items.

It represents just a single of 517 unauthorized tips in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 tonnes of waste. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The overall figure of such bigger locations is expected to be larger, as the regulatory agency has previously indicated it does not possess records on tonnage for every unlawful site.

A large proportion of sites are in rural areas, frequently hidden, and on land that should be arable land.

Organized Activity

Law enforcement state numerous are managed by organised crime gangs, who are earning money by asking for much less than legitimate firms to take and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to pay disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, depending on the quantity and nature of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Frustration

Preparation operations to clear the Kidlington site started earlier this month due to fears over the risk of fire and the consequences that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted waste clearance contractor has been given the job to remediate the area over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national environmental crime division said that the authority would be seeking to recover the clearance funds under asset recovery laws from any individual ultimately found guilty at the end of its ongoing inquiry.

She added that the recent arrests would help "move the probe forward" and permit the agency to "follow more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what transpired and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized tip at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and we understand the community's frustration at this terrible offence," she stated.

A government representative supported the arrests, stating: "The illegal deposit of rubbish at this location is disgraceful and has led to substantial harm to the natural world and distress to the surrounding residents.

"Our authorities is pledged to eradicating this category of illegal activity throughout the UK, by increasing funds to combat environmental crime, hiring more staff and introducing tougher controls and penalties for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were made on the specified day by officers from a dedicated organised crime unit and follow an previous apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was set free pending additional investigations.