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A pair of individuals have been arrested as part of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in association with the huge pile of rubbish deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests come after a previous investigation which uncovered the presence of over 500 unauthorized dumps in England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental body stated that the apprehensions were for environmental and money laundering violations and were a "vital step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been set free on conditional release.

Size of the Situation

The dump in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of waste is composed of what seems to be processed household rubbish, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tires and assorted domestic items.

It constitutes just one of 517 illegal sites across the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 tonnes of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual number of such bigger locations is probably to be greater, as the environment agency has earlier acknowledged it does not possess information on volume for all unauthorized tip.

The majority such locations are in countryside areas, typically out of sight, and on land that is intended to be farm property.

Criminal Enterprise

Authorities report many are managed by organized crime groups, who are earning cash by charging significantly less than lawful companies to receive and dispose of garbage.

Businesses have to incur gate fees to use legitimate disposal sites, contingent on the amount and category of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Preparation operations to remove the Kidlington location began in recent weeks due to worries over the potential of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste clearance firm has been awarded the job to deal with the area over the coming 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the country's environment division commented that the agency would be looking to recover the remediation expenses under proceeds of crime acts from any party successfully prosecuted at the termination of its ongoing investigation.

She added that the recent detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and enable officials to "follow more leads to understand in detail what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This illegal dump at this location was an atrocious and calculated assault on our ecology and the authorities understand the public's frustration at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A cabinet official praised the detentions, adding: "The illegal deposit of garbage at this location is appalling and has caused substantial detriment to the ecology and distress to the local residents.

"The government is dedicated to eliminating this kind of illegal activity throughout the nation, by augmenting funds to address environmental crime, hiring more officers and introducing stricter checks and penalties for those who break the law."

The detentions were executed on a recent Thursday by agents from a dedicated serious crime unit and are in addition to an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in last November. He was let go awaiting further inquiries.