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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the massive heap of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions follow a prior revelation which exposed the existence of over 500 unauthorized tips in England, including at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the regulatory body commented that the arrests were for ecological and proceeds of crime offences and were a "vital step" in ongoing inquiries. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Situation

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is believed to house approximately 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of garbage is consists of what seems to be treated domestic rubbish, chopped up plastics, Styrofoam, automobile tires and various domestic objects.

It constitutes just a single of 517 unlawful tips across England, at minimum 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of waste. They encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual amount of such bigger locations is likely to be larger, as the environment body has previously indicated it does not maintain records on tonnage for every unauthorized dump.

A large proportion of sites are in rural locations, typically concealed, and on land that is zoned as arable ground.

Organized Operations

Law enforcement report numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are earning profit by charging much less than licensed firms to take and dispose of rubbish.

Firms have to incur gate fees to use legitimate landfill sites, depending on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Frustration

Initial operations to remove the Kidlington site started recently following concerns over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the adjacent major road.

A commercial waste clearance company has been granted the job to remediate the area over the coming 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the national regulatory division commented that the agency would be looking to recoup the remediation costs under proceeds of crime laws from anyone successfully found guilty at the termination of its active investigation.

She noted that this week's arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and enable the agency to "follow more avenues to understand exactly what happened and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful dump at this location was an appalling and calculated attack on our environment and we share the local frustration at this horrific crime," she stated.

A cabinet minister praised the detentions, adding: "This unauthorized deposit of garbage at the site is appalling and has led to substantial detriment to the environment and anguish to the surrounding population.

"The administration is committed to eradicating this category of crime across the nation, by increasing resources to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more staff and introducing stricter checks and penalties for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated crime team and come after an previous apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area area in November. He was released pending more enquiries.