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Two men have been detained as an element of an investigation into the dumping of many thousands of metric tons of refuse in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in the town of Slough in connection with the enormous mound of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These apprehensions come after a recent revelation which revealed the existence of in excess of 500 unlawful tips throughout the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the environmental body commented that the apprehensions were for environmental and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "vital step" in active investigations. Both men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Situation

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold around 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of garbage is composed of what appears to be sorted household waste, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, tires and other domestic items.

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

The overall number of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the regulatory body has earlier indicated it does not possess data on volume for each unauthorized dump.

Most sites are in agricultural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that should be agricultural land.

Organised Enterprise

Authorities state numerous are run by criminal organizations, who are making profit by charging significantly less than lawful operators to take and bury waste.

Firms have to incur site fees to use licensed waste facilities, based on the amount and nature of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Frustration

Preparation efforts to clean up the Kidlington area dump commenced earlier this month due to fears over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private waste clearance contractor has been granted the job to remediate the location over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the government regulatory division stated that the agency would be seeking to recoup the clean-up funds under proceeds of crime legislation from anyone ultimately prosecuted at the conclusion of its current inquiry.

She further stated that the recent apprehensions would help "move the investigation forward" and permit authorities to "follow more avenues to determine exactly what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This illegal dump at this location was an appalling and intentional attack on our environment and officials share the public's anger at this egregious offence," she said.

A government representative supported the detentions, stating: "The illegal tipping of garbage at Kidlington is appalling and has resulted in significant detriment to the ecology and distress to the surrounding residents.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this type of criminality throughout the country, by increasing resources to tackle environmental crime, hiring more personnel and enacting tougher controls and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were made on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated serious crime unit and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was let go pending more inquiries.