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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an probe into the tipping of thousands of tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the enormous pile of waste tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous revelation which revealed the existence of more than 500 illegal sites across England, including at least 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency commented that the arrests were for environment-related and money laundering offences and were a "crucial step" in continuing probes. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Problem

The dump in near Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what seems to be treated household refuse, shredded plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tires and various everyday objects.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual figure of such bigger sites is expected to be higher, as the environment agency has previously stated it does not possess data on weight for every illegal tip.

A large proportion of sites are in rural areas, frequently hidden, and on land that should be agricultural land.

Organised Enterprise

Authorities say many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are earning cash by demanding far less than lawful operators to take and dispose of garbage.

Businesses have to pay disposal fees to use lawful landfill sites, contingent on the volume and category of waste they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparatory work to remove the Kidlington area dump began earlier this month amid concerns over the potential of combustion and the impact that would have on the adjacent highway.

A private waste removal contractor has been awarded the task to handle the site over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's regulatory division said that the agency would be looking to recover the clearance expenses under confiscation legislation from any individual successfully convicted at the conclusion of its active case.

She added that this week's detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit officials to "pursue more leads to understand exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"This illegal dump at the site was an atrocious and intentional affront on our environment and the authorities understand the local outrage at this terrible offence," she stated.

A cabinet minister welcomed the actions, commenting: "The unlawful tipping of rubbish at this location is disgraceful and has led to significant damage to the natural world and anguish to the surrounding residents.

"The government is committed to eliminating this type of criminality across the country, by boosting funds to address illegal dumping, hiring more personnel and enacting more severe controls and penalties for those who break the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional crime unit and follow an earlier apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in November. He was let go awaiting further inquiries.