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Two men have been arrested as a component of an investigation into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in connection with the huge pile of waste deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a recent revelation which exposed the existence of over 500 unlawful sites in the country of England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the environmental body stated that the detentions were for environment-related and financial crimes and were a "vital step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been released on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Situation

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to house about 21,000 tonnes of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what appears to be sorted domestic rubbish, shredded plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and other everyday articles.

It is just a single of 517 unlawful tips in England, at minimum 11 of which hold over 20,000 metric tons of waste. These encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The overall figure of such bigger dumps is expected to be larger, as the environmental agency has in the past indicated it does not hold data on weight for every unlawful dump.

The majority these sites are in rural settings, typically out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable land.

Organized Operations

Authorities state many are run by criminal organizations, who are making profit by charging far less than legitimate companies to take and landfill garbage.

Companies have to incur site fees to use legitimate landfill sites, contingent on the quantity and category of material they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Anger

Preparatory operations to clear the Kidlington area site commenced recently following fears over the threat of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby highway.

A contracted waste removal company has been granted the contract to deal with the site over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the country's environmental crime division commented that the agency would be seeking to recover the clean-up expenses under confiscation laws from anyone convicted at the end of its active case.

She further stated that the recent arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and permit the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what transpired and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful site at this location was an atrocious and intentional assault on our natural surroundings and we understand the local outrage at this egregious act," she said.

A government representative supported the arrests, commenting: "This unauthorized dumping of garbage at this location is utterly appalling and has caused substantial damage to the ecology and anguish to the surrounding community.

"The government is committed to eliminating this category of illegal activity throughout the nation, by boosting resources to address waste crime, recruiting more officers and implementing stricter checks and sanctions for those who break the law."

The apprehensions were executed on the specified day by officers from a dedicated serious crime squad and come after an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was released pending further enquiries.