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Two individuals have been detained as part of an probe into the dumping of thousands of tons of waste in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in relation with the enormous heap of garbage dumped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions come after a prior investigation which revealed the existence of in excess of 500 illegal dumps throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body commented that the arrests were for ecological and financial violations and constituted a "vital step" in continuing investigations. Both men have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Situation

The dump in Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold around 21,000 tons of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what seems to be processed domestic refuse, chopped up plastics, Styrofoam, automobile tires and various everyday articles.

It constitutes just a single of 517 unauthorized tips across England, at minimum 11 of which contain more than 20,000 metric tons of waste. They include 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 dump in the county of Kent.

The actual figure of such major dumps is expected to be greater, as the environmental agency has earlier acknowledged it does not maintain records on tonnage for every unlawful tip.

Most these sites are in countryside areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable land.

Organised Enterprise

Authorities report many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making money by charging far less than legitimate companies to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to pay disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, based on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Outrage

Initial work to clean up the affected location started in recent weeks due to worries over the threat of fire and the impact that would have on the close-by major road.

A contracted waste clearance contractor has been granted the task to deal with the site over the following 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An investigations manager for the government regulatory division stated that the authority would be aiming to recoup the remediation funds under proceeds of crime laws from any party successfully found guilty at the conclusion of its current case.

She noted that these arrests would help "push the inquiry forward" and allow officials to "investigate more avenues to ascertain exactly what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful dump at this location was an shocking and calculated assault on our environment and the authorities share the public's outrage at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A cabinet representative praised the arrests, commenting: "This illegal deposit of garbage at the site is disgraceful and has resulted in significant harm to the environment and distress to the local community.

"Our government is pledged to stamping out this type of criminality across the country, by increasing resources to tackle waste crime, employing more staff and introducing tougher controls and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The detentions were made on the specified day by personnel from a regional organised crime team and are in addition to an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in last November. He was let go subject to additional investigations.