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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tons of rubbish in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in connection with the huge heap of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions come after a previous investigation which exposed the existence of more than 500 illegal tips in England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory body commented that the arrests were for environment-related and financial violations and represented a "key step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Issue

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

This pile of waste is made up of what appears to be sorted household refuse, chopped up plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tires and assorted domestic articles.

It constitutes just a single of 517 unauthorized sites in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. These encompass a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall number of such major dumps is likely to be higher, as the regulatory authority has previously acknowledged it does not maintain data on volume for each unauthorized dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in rural settings, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural ground.

Organised Activity

Authorities report numerous are run by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by demanding far less than lawful companies to accept and landfill waste.

Firms have to be liable for site fees to use lawful landfill sites, depending on the amount and category of material they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Anger

Preparatory efforts to clean up the Kidlington area site began earlier this month due to fears over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by major road.

A private waste removal contractor has been given the contract to remediate the location over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations manager for the country's environmental crime unit said that the body would be looking to claim back the remediation costs under asset recovery acts from anyone convicted at the conclusion of its current investigation.

She further stated that these arrests would help "push the investigation forward" and enable officials to "pursue more avenues to understand exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"The illegal dump at Kidlington was an shocking and calculated attack on our ecology and the authorities understand the local frustration at this egregious offence," she said.

A government official welcomed the actions, stating: "This unlawful tipping of waste at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has caused significant damage to the environment and anguish to the surrounding population.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this type of illegal activity across the nation, by augmenting resources to tackle environmental crime, recruiting more staff and introducing stricter checks and fines for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were made on the specified day by agents from a specialist serious crime unit and come after an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in last November. He was set free awaiting further investigations.