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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the tipping of several thousand of tonnes of waste in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities stated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in connection with the massive heap of garbage tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions occur a week after a prior investigation which uncovered the existence of in excess of 500 unauthorized dumps in England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory authorities said that the apprehensions were for environmental and financial crimes and represented a "vital step" in ongoing probes. Both men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to house about 21,000 tons of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is consists of what looks to be sorted household waste, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and assorted household articles.

It is just one of 517 unauthorized dumps in England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tons of rubbish. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual amount of such larger dumps is likely to be higher, as the environmental agency has previously indicated it does not possess records on volume for each unlawful site.

A large proportion of these sites are in countryside settings, frequently concealed, and on land that is zoned as farm ground.

Criminal Activity

Authorities state many are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by demanding much less than legitimate operators to receive and dispose of waste.

Firms have to pay gate fees to use legitimate disposal sites, based on the quantity and category of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Public Anger

Preparation operations to clean up the Kidlington location commenced in recent weeks following worries over the threat of combustion and the consequences that would have on the nearby highway.

A contracted waste removal company has been given the contract to handle the location over the next 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the government regulatory division said that the authority would be seeking to recoup the remediation funds under confiscation laws from any party ultimately convicted at the end of its current case.

She added that this week's apprehensions would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"This illegal site at the site was an appalling and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and we share the local frustration at this horrific crime," she said.

A cabinet official welcomed the detentions, commenting: "The unauthorized tipping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in significant damage to the ecology and distress to the surrounding population.

"Our administration is committed to eliminating this type of crime throughout the nation, by augmenting financing to combat waste crime, hiring more staff and introducing more severe checks and fines for those who flout the rules."

The detentions were carried out on Thursday by officers from a dedicated crime squad and are in addition to an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was released subject to additional inquiries.