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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of metric tons of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials reported that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a property in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the massive heap of waste deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a recent revelation which revealed the presence of in excess of 500 unauthorized tips throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment authorities said that the detentions were for environmental and financial offences and constituted a "vital step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Size of the Problem

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to contain around 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of rubbish is composed of what seems to be processed residential refuse, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, automobile tires and various domestic objects.

It constitutes just one of 517 illegal dumps across England, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. These feature 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 tip in Kent.

The actual figure of such major dumps is probably to be higher, as the regulatory authority has in the past acknowledged it does not possess data on tonnage for each unlawful site.

A large proportion of such locations are in countryside locations, frequently concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural property.

Organised Operations

Police say a significant number are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning profit by asking for much less than legitimate firms to accept and bury rubbish.

Firms have to pay site fees to use legitimate waste facilities, based on the volume 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 efforts to clean up the Kidlington location started earlier this month following concerns over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.

A commercial clean-up firm has been granted the task to remediate the site over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national environmental crime division stated that the agency would be looking to recover the clean-up expenses under confiscation acts from any individual found guilty at the conclusion of its active investigation.

She noted that the recent detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and permit the agency to "pursue more avenues to understand in detail what transpired and who was implicated".

"The illegal tip at the site was an atrocious and deliberate affront on our natural surroundings and we share the local outrage at this terrible crime," she said.

A government official welcomed the detentions, stating: "This unauthorized deposit of waste at the site is utterly appalling and has resulted in significant damage to the environment and upset to the nearby community.

"The authorities is committed to eradicating this category of illegal activity across the nation, by boosting financing to tackle environmental crime, hiring more staff and enacting more severe controls and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by agents from a regional organised crime squad and are in addition to an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in the autumn. He was set free awaiting additional enquiries.