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A pair of individuals have been detained as a component of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough in connection with the massive heap of rubbish dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a recent report which exposed the operation of in excess of 500 unlawful tips in the country of England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment body stated that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime offences and represented a "vital step" in continuing inquiries. The two individuals have been released on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Situation

The dump in the Kidlington area, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is composed of what looks to be processed residential waste, fragmented plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and other domestic objects.

It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful sites in the country, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tons of waste. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The overall figure of such larger locations is probably to be larger, as the environment authority has previously indicated it does not maintain information on tonnage for all illegal tip.

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

Organised Activity

Police report many are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning money by charging far less than lawful companies to take and dispose of garbage.

Companies have to be liable for gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, depending on the amount and nature of refuse they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Outrage

Preparatory work to remove the affected location began recently due to worries over the risk of blaze and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A contracted waste clearance company has been granted the task to deal with the area over the coming 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the national environmental crime unit commented that the agency would be aiming to recover the remediation costs under proceeds of crime laws from any individual found guilty at the termination of its active inquiry.

She noted that these arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "pursue more lines of inquiry to understand precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"This unauthorized dump at this location was an appalling and deliberate affront on our ecology and the authorities understand the community's frustration at this horrific act," she stated.

A senior representative supported the detentions, adding: "The unlawful dumping of rubbish at the site is appalling and has caused significant harm to the ecology and anguish to the local population.

"Our authorities is dedicated to stamping out this type of criminality in the nation, by increasing resources to combat waste crime, employing more officers and enacting stricter measures and penalties for those who violate the regulations."

The apprehensions were made on the specified day by personnel from a regional crime squad and are in addition to an prior apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was released subject to additional enquiries.