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Two men have been taken into custody as an element of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of tons of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in relation with the enormous mound of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a prior report which uncovered the operation of in excess of 500 unlawful sites throughout England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the environment body commented that the apprehensions were for ecological and financial offences and constituted a "key step" in active probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The dump in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is believed to hold about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of waste is composed of what seems to be sorted domestic rubbish, shredded plastic materials, Styrofoam, tires and other domestic articles.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful sites throughout England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. They include a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual figure of such larger dumps is expected to be larger, as the regulatory body has in the past indicated it does not maintain records on tonnage for all unlawful tip.

Most these sites are in rural areas, frequently concealed, and on land that should be farm property.

Organized Enterprise

Police state a significant number are run by organized crime groups, who are making profit by charging significantly less than legitimate operators to receive and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to be liable for gate fees to use licensed landfill sites, contingent on the volume and category of refuse they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Community Outrage

Initial work to remove the Kidlington area site began recently due to worries over the potential of blaze and the consequences that would have on the close-by major road.

A commercial waste removal company has been given the task to handle the area over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the country's environmental crime team said that the agency would be seeking to claim back the remediation costs under asset recovery laws from any party ultimately found guilty at the termination of its active case.

She noted that the recent detentions would help "push the probe forward" and permit the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what transpired and who was involved".

"This unauthorized dump at this location was an atrocious and intentional assault on our ecology and the authorities understand the public's outrage at this terrible act," she stated.

A senior representative praised the arrests, stating: "This illegal deposit of rubbish at this location is appalling and has caused significant detriment to the environment and upset to the local community.

"Our authorities is pledged to eradicating this kind of illegal activity in the nation, by boosting resources to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more personnel and introducing more severe checks and sanctions for those who break the law."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by officers from a specialist serious crime unit and are in addition to an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in the autumn. He was let go subject to additional inquiries.