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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of tons of waste in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in association with the enormous mound of waste tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous investigation which uncovered the operation of in excess of 500 illegal sites across the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environmental body commented that the arrests were for environmental and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "key step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The dump in near Kidlington, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is estimated to hold about 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of rubbish is consists of what seems to be processed household refuse, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tires and various household objects.

It represents just one of 517 unlawful sites across the country, at least 11 of which hold more than 20,000 metric tons of garbage. These encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The overall amount of such major dumps is expected to be larger, as the environmental body has previously indicated it does not hold records on volume for every unlawful tip.

A large proportion of these sites are in countryside locations, often out of sight, and on land that is intended to be agricultural land.

Organised Activity

Police say a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by charging significantly less than lawful operators to take and landfill rubbish.

Firms have to incur site fees to use lawful disposal sites, based on the quantity and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Anger

Initial work to remove the Kidlington area location commenced in recent weeks following fears over the risk of fire and the consequences that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted clean-up firm has been given the task to deal with the site over the following 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national regulatory unit commented that the body would be aiming to recoup the clean-up funds under confiscation legislation from any individual successfully convicted at the end of its active investigation.

She noted that these apprehensions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit officials to "follow more avenues to ascertain precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"This illegal tip at this location was an atrocious and deliberate assault on our ecology and we empathize with the public's anger at this terrible offence," she stated.

A senior minister supported the actions, commenting: "This unlawful dumping of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to substantial damage to the ecology and anguish to the local community.

"Our authorities is dedicated to eliminating this category of criminality across the nation, by boosting financing to tackle environmental crime, employing more personnel and enacting more severe controls and penalties for those who flout the law."

The apprehensions were carried out on Thursday by officers from a specialist organised crime team and come after an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was released pending further investigations.