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Two individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the massive heap of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a prior investigation which revealed the presence of more than 500 illegal dumps across the country of England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the environmental body commented that the detentions were for ecological and financial crimes and constituted a "key step" in ongoing inquiries. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to hold about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is made up of what appears to be processed residential waste, chopped up plastics, Styrofoam, automobile tires and other domestic items.

It represents just one example of 517 unlawful dumps throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 metric tons of waste. They feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such major dumps is probably to be larger, as the regulatory authority has previously acknowledged it does not maintain records on volume for every unlawful dump.

The majority such locations are in rural settings, often concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Authorities report a significant number are managed by organised crime gangs, who are earning profit by asking for much less than licensed companies to accept and bury garbage.

Businesses have to be liable for disposal fees to use lawful waste facilities, contingent on the amount and nature of material they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Frustration

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington area site started earlier this month due to concerns over the threat of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby highway.

A private clean-up firm has been given the task to remediate the location over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government environmental crime division commented that the body would be looking to claim back the remediation expenses under confiscation legislation from any individual ultimately found guilty at the end of its ongoing case.

She noted that this week's detentions would help "move the probe forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain exactly what happened and who was involved".

"The unlawful dump at this location was an shocking and calculated attack on our environment and we share the local anger at this terrible act," she remarked.

A senior official welcomed the detentions, stating: "The unauthorized deposit of garbage at this location is appalling and has led to substantial damage to the ecology and distress to the surrounding residents.

"The administration is dedicated to eradicating this type of illegal activity throughout the UK, by increasing resources to tackle environmental crime, employing more staff and enacting stricter checks and penalties for those who break the regulations."

The arrests were executed on the specified day by agents from a regional organised crime squad and come after an previous arrest of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in November. He was released subject to more investigations.