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Two individuals have been detained as part of an probe into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tonnes of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the massive heap of waste deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions occur a week after a prior investigation which exposed the presence of more than 500 unlawful tips throughout the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency stated that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime offences and were a "key step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Issue

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to hold about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of waste is consists of what seems to be sorted domestic rubbish, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tyres and other everyday items.

It represents just one of 517 unauthorized tips across England, at least 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tons of rubbish. These include a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total amount of such bigger dumps is expected to be larger, as the environmental body has in the past indicated it does not possess information on tonnage for all unauthorized site.

Most sites are in agricultural locations, often out of sight, and on land that should be agricultural ground.

Organised Operations

Police state numerous are operated by organised crime gangs, who are generating cash by demanding far less than licensed companies to accept and bury rubbish.

Businesses have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate landfill sites, depending on the quantity and type of refuse they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Outrage

Preparation efforts to remove the Kidlington location began recently following fears over the risk of combustion and the consequences that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A contracted clean-up contractor has been given the contract to remediate the area over the coming 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the government environment division stated that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clearance expenses under confiscation acts from any party successfully prosecuted at the termination of its current case.

She further stated that the recent apprehensions would help "move the investigation forward" and enable officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what transpired and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and intentional assault on our ecology and officials understand the local anger at this egregious offence," she remarked.

A cabinet representative welcomed the actions, stating: "This illegal deposit of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has led to substantial damage to the environment and anguish to the local residents.

"The government is pledged to stamping out this type of criminality in the nation, by boosting financing to combat illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and enacting more severe checks and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were executed on the specified day by agents from a dedicated crime unit and come after an prior apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was let go awaiting more inquiries.