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A pair of individuals have been detained as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the huge pile of rubbish dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions come after a prior report which exposed the operation of in excess of 500 unlawful dumps throughout the country of England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental agency stated that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering violations and were a "key step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The dump in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is believed to house about 21,000 metric tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what looks to be treated domestic rubbish, shredded plastic items, expanded polystyrene, tyres and other household articles.

It represents just a single of 517 unauthorized sites in England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tons of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total figure of such larger locations is probably to be greater, as the environment authority has earlier stated it does not possess data on tonnage for every illegal tip.

The majority sites are in agricultural areas, typically hidden, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Organised Operations

Police state numerous are run by organised crime gangs, who are earning cash by charging far less than lawful operators to accept and bury garbage.

Firms have to be liable for site fees to use licensed landfill sites, based on the volume and category of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Anger

Preparatory work to clean up the Kidlington area location started recently following worries over the potential of blaze and the consequences that would have on the adjacent highway.

A contracted clean-up company has been given the job to handle the area over the following 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national regulatory unit said that the authority would be seeking to recover the remediation funds under proceeds of crime acts from any party prosecuted at the termination of its current case.

She added that the recent detentions would help "move the probe forward" and permit the agency to "pursue more lines of inquiry to ascertain in detail what transpired and who was involved".

"This illegal tip at the site was an appalling and calculated assault on our ecology and the authorities share the community's frustration at this egregious act," she stated.

A senior minister praised the arrests, stating: "The illegal deposit of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to significant damage to the environment and upset to the local population.

"The government is committed to stamping out this category of criminality across the country, by increasing funds to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and enacting stricter checks and penalties for those who break the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by officers from a dedicated organised crime unit and are in addition to an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in November. He was released awaiting further inquiries.