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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials stated that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in relation with the massive mound of rubbish deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions come after a prior report which exposed the existence of over 500 unauthorized tips across the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the regulatory body stated that the detentions were for ecological and proceeds of crime violations and were a "vital step" in ongoing inquiries. Both men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Size of the Situation

The illegal site in Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is composed of what looks to be processed domestic waste, shredded plastic materials, polystyrene, tyres and assorted household articles.

It is just one example of 517 illegal tips across the country, at minimum 11 of which contain over 20,000 tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The total figure of such larger locations is expected to be greater, as the environmental body has previously acknowledged it does not possess information on weight for every unlawful tip.

A large proportion of sites are in rural locations, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as farm property.

Organised Operations

Law enforcement say numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are generating cash by demanding far less than legitimate operators to receive and landfill rubbish.

Firms have to be liable for gate fees to use legitimate landfill sites, depending on the amount and type of material they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Anger

Initial operations to remove the Kidlington dump commenced earlier this month amid fears over the risk of combustion and the consequences that would have on the nearby highway.

A private clean-up firm has been granted the contract to remediate the area over the coming 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the national environmental crime unit said that the authority would be seeking to recoup the remediation expenses under confiscation laws from any individual successfully prosecuted at the end of its active investigation.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "move the probe forward" and enable officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what happened and who was a party to it".

"This illegal tip at this location was an atrocious and intentional assault on our ecology and officials share the community's frustration at this terrible act," she stated.

A cabinet minister welcomed the actions, stating: "The unlawful dumping of waste at this location is utterly appalling and has led to considerable detriment to the environment and anguish to the nearby residents.

"The government is pledged to eradicating this kind of criminality in the UK, by increasing financing to combat waste crime, hiring more personnel and implementing more severe controls and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The detentions were executed on a recent Thursday by agents from a regional serious crime team and follow an previous arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area area in last November. He was released pending further investigations.