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Two individuals have been detained as an element of an investigation into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tons of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in relation with the enormous heap of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests follow a prior revelation which uncovered the existence of over 500 unlawful sites across England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory body said that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime violations and constituted a "key step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been set free on bail.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to hold approximately 21,000 tons of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what seems to be processed residential rubbish, fragmented plastic items, expanded polystyrene, tires and assorted everyday items.

It is just one example of 517 unlawful tips across England, at least 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of waste. They feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual number of such larger dumps is probably to be higher, as the environment body has earlier stated it does not maintain records on volume for every unlawful tip.

Most sites are in countryside locations, frequently concealed, and on land that should be arable land.

Organized Operations

Law enforcement report many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are earning profit by demanding far less than lawful operators to accept and bury rubbish.

Businesses have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate waste facilities, based on the volume and nature of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Frustration

Preparatory operations to remove the affected site commenced earlier this month following fears over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private waste clearance contractor has been awarded the job to handle the area over the coming 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the national environmental crime unit commented that the agency would be aiming to recover the remediation costs under asset recovery laws from any party convicted at the end of its active case.

She noted that the recent detentions would help "move the probe forward" and enable the agency to "follow more lines of inquiry to ascertain exactly what transpired and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized tip at this location was an shocking and intentional attack on our environment and we understand the public's anger at this terrible act," she said.

A cabinet minister supported the arrests, adding: "This unauthorized tipping of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has caused significant detriment to the ecology and anguish to the nearby population.

"The authorities is committed to eradicating this kind of illegal activity throughout the nation, by augmenting financing to tackle waste crime, hiring more staff and implementing more severe controls and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by agents from a specialist serious crime unit and follow an prior detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was released awaiting further inquiries.