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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of refuse in a field in Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the enormous mound of rubbish tipped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous investigation which uncovered the existence of more than 500 unlawful dumps in the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the environment agency said that the detentions were for environmental and proceeds of crime violations and represented a "key step" in ongoing investigations. The two individuals have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

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

This pile of garbage is made up of what looks to be processed domestic waste, shredded plastic materials, Styrofoam, automobile tires and various everyday articles.

It is just a single of 517 illegal tips across England, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tonnes of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The overall amount of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the regulatory authority has previously indicated it does not maintain records on tonnage for each unlawful tip.

Most sites are in agricultural locations, often concealed, and on land that is intended to be farm ground.

Organised Operations

Authorities say a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by charging far less than licensed operators to receive and bury garbage.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use legitimate waste facilities, contingent on the amount and category of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Frustration

Preparation work to remove the affected location started earlier this month amid concerns over the potential of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A private waste clearance firm has been awarded the task to deal with the site over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the country's regulatory team said that the authority would be aiming to recover the remediation funds under confiscation legislation from any individual found guilty at the end of its current investigation.

She added that this week's apprehensions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain in detail what occurred and who was involved".

"This unauthorized site at this location was an shocking and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and the authorities understand the community's frustration at this horrific crime," she stated.

A senior representative supported the detentions, stating: "The illegal dumping of garbage at this location is appalling and has resulted in substantial harm to the environment and distress to the local population.

"The authorities is pledged to eradicating this type of criminality in the UK, by increasing funds to address illegal dumping, employing more officers and implementing stricter checks and fines for those who violate the regulations."

The arrests were made on the specified day by personnel from a specialist organised crime squad and follow an prior arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford region in November. He was released subject to further enquiries.