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Two men have been detained as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tonnes of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in association with the huge heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a previous investigation which uncovered the operation of over 500 unauthorized tips throughout England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment body stated that the detentions were for environment-related and financial offences and represented a "crucial step" in ongoing inquiries. The two individuals have been set free on bail.

Scale of the Issue

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is thought to hold about 21,000 tons of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of waste is consists of what seems to be treated residential rubbish, chopped up plastic materials, polystyrene, tyres and other household objects.

It represents just a single of 517 unauthorized tips throughout the country, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of garbage. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total amount of such larger sites is probably to be higher, as the regulatory body has previously indicated it does not maintain records on tonnage for each illegal dump.

The majority these sites are in agricultural areas, typically hidden, and on land that should be farm property.

Criminal Enterprise

Police state many are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating money by demanding far less than licensed operators to receive and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to incur site fees to use lawful disposal sites, based on the quantity and nature of waste they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Outrage

Preparation efforts to clear the Kidlington area location commenced in recent weeks amid worries over the risk of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

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

An investigations official for the national environment team stated that the authority would be aiming to recoup the clean-up funds under confiscation laws from any party ultimately convicted at the end of its current case.

She added that this week's detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit the agency to "follow more avenues to understand exactly what happened and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful dump at Kidlington was an shocking and intentional affront on our natural surroundings and officials share the local anger at this egregious act," she stated.

A cabinet representative praised the arrests, commenting: "This illegal deposit of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has resulted in significant detriment to the environment and distress to the nearby residents.

"The administration is committed to stamping out this kind of criminality across the UK, by increasing resources to combat environmental crime, recruiting more personnel and enacting stricter checks and penalties for those who violate the regulations."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by agents from a dedicated organised crime unit and are in addition to an prior arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in November. He was released subject to more investigations.