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A pair of individuals have been detained as a component of an inquiry into the tipping of thousands of tons of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in the town of Slough in association with the massive pile of rubbish dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions follow a recent report which exposed the existence of over 500 unauthorized sites in England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the regulatory body commented that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "crucial step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to contain around 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of garbage is consists of what appears to be processed domestic rubbish, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tires and other household objects.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal dumps across England, at least 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual number of such major locations is likely to be larger, as the environmental body has in the past indicated it does not possess information on weight for every illegal dump.

The majority such locations are in rural locations, frequently hidden, and on land that is zoned as agricultural property.

Organised Operations

Authorities state numerous are run by criminal organizations, who are making money by demanding significantly less than legitimate operators to receive and dispose of garbage.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use legitimate disposal sites, depending on the amount and category of material they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Anger

Preparatory operations to remove the affected site commenced recently due to concerns over the risk of combustion and the effect that would have on the adjacent major road.

A commercial waste removal firm has been granted the job to remediate the area over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the government regulatory team commented that the authority would be aiming to recover the clean-up expenses under asset recovery acts from anyone ultimately convicted at the conclusion of its active case.

She added that this week's detentions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "investigate more leads to understand exactly what happened and who was involved".

"The unauthorized site at the site was an atrocious and intentional attack on our environment and the authorities empathize with the community's frustration at this egregious act," she stated.

A government minister supported the arrests, commenting: "The unlawful tipping of garbage at the site is utterly appalling and has led to considerable detriment to the natural world and distress to the local residents.

"The government is dedicated to eliminating this kind of crime throughout the country, by boosting funds to tackle illegal dumping, employing more staff and introducing stricter checks and sanctions for those who break the law."

The arrests were made on Thursday by officers from a specialist organised crime unit and follow an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in November. He was set free subject to additional enquiries.