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Two individuals have been arrested as part of an inquiry into the dumping of several thousand of tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the enormous heap of waste dumped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous revelation which revealed the presence of more than 500 unlawful tips across England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities stated that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "crucial step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Scale of the Problem

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold around 21,000 tons of refuse in a pile 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 processed residential waste, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted household items.

It represents just one of 517 unlawful dumps throughout the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tons of waste. These encompass a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The actual number of such major sites is probably to be higher, as the environment authority has earlier acknowledged it does not possess records on volume for all unauthorized tip.

A large proportion of these sites are in rural locations, typically out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable ground.

Organized Operations

Police state many are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning money by charging far less than lawful firms to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed disposal sites, depending on the quantity and nature of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Outrage

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington area location commenced recently due to fears over the threat of blaze and the effect that would have on the close-by major road.

A contracted waste clearance firm has been awarded the job to remediate the area over the coming 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the national environmental crime division stated that the agency would be looking to recover the remediation costs under proceeds of crime laws from anyone ultimately found guilty at the termination of its ongoing investigation.

She added that this week's arrests would help "push the inquiry forward" and permit officials to "investigate more leads to understand in detail what occurred and who was involved".

"The unauthorized tip at this location was an shocking and intentional attack on our environment and the authorities understand the community's outrage at this terrible act," she stated.

A cabinet representative praised the arrests, stating: "The illegal dumping of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has resulted in substantial damage to the ecology and anguish to the nearby community.

"Our administration is committed to eradicating this type of illegal activity in the country, by augmenting financing to combat waste crime, hiring more personnel and introducing stricter measures and fines for those who flout the law."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by personnel from a specialist crime unit and follow an prior arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in the autumn. He was released awaiting further inquiries.