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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an probe into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the massive heap of waste dumped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a recent report which exposed the operation of over 500 illegal sites in the country of England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environmental agency commented that the arrests were for environment-related and proceeds of crime crimes and constituted a "vital step" in continuing investigations. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Scale of the Situation

The dump in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 tonnes of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what seems to be sorted domestic refuse, fragmented plastic materials, Styrofoam, tyres and various household objects.

It is just one of 517 unlawful dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The actual figure of such bigger locations is probably to be higher, as the environment agency has previously stated it does not possess records on volume for all unlawful tip.

The majority sites are in countryside locations, often out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable property.

Organised Enterprise

Police state many are run by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by demanding much less than lawful operators to receive and landfill rubbish.

Firms have to incur site fees to use licensed landfill sites, contingent on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Outrage

Preparation operations to remove the affected dump started recently due to fears over the risk of blaze and the consequences that would have on the nearby highway.

A private clean-up firm has been granted the job to deal with the site over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the government regulatory team stated that the agency would be aiming to recoup the clean-up costs under proceeds of crime laws from any individual successfully prosecuted at the end of its current case.

She noted that these arrests would help "push the probe forward" and permit the agency to "follow more avenues to ascertain exactly what transpired and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful site at the site was an appalling and intentional assault on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the local frustration at this egregious act," she remarked.

A government official welcomed the arrests, stating: "The unlawful tipping of garbage at the site is appalling and has resulted in substantial harm to the environment and distress to the surrounding community.

"The administration is pledged to stamping out this kind of crime in the UK, by increasing resources to combat illegal dumping, employing more staff and introducing more severe checks and penalties for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by personnel from a dedicated serious crime squad and come after an previous detention of a man in his thirties from the Surrey area in last November. He was released pending additional enquiries.