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A pair of individuals have been detained as a component of an investigation into the illegal deposit of many thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in connection with the enormous mound of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous report which exposed the existence of over 500 unauthorized sites across England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities stated that the apprehensions were for environmental and money laundering violations and constituted a "crucial step" in active probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The tipping ground in Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to house around 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of waste is composed of what seems to be sorted residential refuse, fragmented plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tires and other household items.

It represents just one of 517 unauthorized tips throughout England, at least 11 of which hold over 20,000 tonnes of garbage. These include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall figure of such larger sites is likely to be larger, as the environmental agency has previously stated it does not maintain data on tonnage for every unlawful site.

The majority sites are in rural locations, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be farm ground.

Organised Enterprise

Authorities say numerous are operated by organised crime gangs, who are generating money by asking for far less than licensed companies to receive and bury waste.

Businesses have to pay site fees to use licensed disposal sites, based on the volume and category of material they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparatory operations to remove the Kidlington area location started earlier this month following concerns over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the adjacent major road.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been given the task to handle the area over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the national environmental crime team commented that the authority would be aiming to recoup the clean-up funds under proceeds of crime legislation from any party ultimately found guilty at the end of its current investigation.

She noted that this week's apprehensions would help "drive the probe forward" and enable the agency to "investigate more avenues to ascertain exactly what transpired and who was implicated".

"This illegal dump at the site was an atrocious and intentional affront on our environment and we understand the community's outrage at this terrible offence," she said.

A government minister praised the arrests, adding: "This unlawful tipping of garbage at the site is appalling and has resulted in substantial damage to the ecology and upset to the surrounding population.

"Our authorities is dedicated to eliminating this category of illegal activity throughout the country, by increasing financing to combat waste crime, employing more staff and introducing more severe checks and penalties for those who flout the law."

The arrests were carried out on the specified day by personnel from a regional organised crime squad and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was let go awaiting further inquiries.