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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an probe into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in connection with the enormous heap of waste dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests come after a recent report which exposed the operation of in excess of 500 unauthorized dumps throughout the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment authorities stated that the arrests were for environment-related and financial violations and represented a "vital step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been let go on bail.

Magnitude of the Situation

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to house approximately 21,000 tonnes of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what appears to be processed residential rubbish, fragmented plastic items, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and various household articles.

It represents just one of 517 unauthorized tips across the country, at minimum 11 of which contain over 20,000 tons of garbage. These include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total number of such bigger locations is probably to be higher, as the environment authority has in the past stated it does not maintain records on volume for every unauthorized tip.

The majority these sites are in agricultural locations, frequently hidden, and on land that is intended to be agricultural property.

Organized Operations

Law enforcement say numerous are managed by organised crime gangs, who are earning cash by demanding far less than lawful companies to receive and dispose of rubbish.

Firms have to be liable for site fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the amount and type of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Preparatory work to clear the affected site began earlier this month following fears over the risk of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.

A private waste removal firm has been given the contract to deal with the area over the coming 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the country's regulatory division said that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clean-up expenses under asset recovery acts from anyone convicted at the end of its current case.

She further stated that these arrests would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more avenues to determine precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and calculated assault on our ecology and officials understand the local anger at this egregious offence," she stated.

A cabinet representative supported the actions, stating: "This unauthorized deposit of rubbish at Kidlington is appalling and has resulted in considerable damage to the ecology and upset to the nearby community.

"The administration is pledged to eradicating this kind of illegal activity throughout the country, by boosting financing to combat environmental crime, recruiting more officers and implementing tougher measures and penalties for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were executed on Thursday by personnel from a dedicated serious crime unit and are in addition to an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was released pending further investigations.