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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the tipping of thousands of tonnes of waste in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the enormous heap of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These arrests follow a recent report which revealed the existence of more than 500 illegal dumps in England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment body said that the apprehensions were for environment-related and financial offences and represented a "key step" in ongoing investigations. The two individuals have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Situation

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34, is believed to hold around 21,000 metric tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of waste is consists of what appears to be sorted household waste, fragmented plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tyres and assorted everyday articles.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful tips in England, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of waste. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual amount of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the regulatory agency has in the past acknowledged it does not possess information on volume for each unauthorized site.

The majority such locations are in countryside locations, typically out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable land.

Organised Enterprise

Police report a significant number are managed by criminal organizations, who are generating cash by charging far less than legitimate companies to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Businesses have to pay gate fees to use legitimate waste facilities, based on the amount and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Initial work to clean up the Kidlington area dump started earlier this month amid concerns over the threat of fire and the effect that would have on the nearby highway.

A private waste removal firm has been given the contract to deal with the location over the next 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's environment unit stated that the body would be looking to recover the remediation funds under confiscation acts from any party convicted at the end of its current case.

She noted that these arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "pursue more avenues to understand precisely what occurred and who was involved".

"The unlawful dump at this location was an atrocious and deliberate assault on our ecology and officials understand the community's anger at this terrible offence," she remarked.

A cabinet official supported the arrests, adding: "This illegal dumping of waste at the site is disgraceful and has resulted in considerable damage to the ecology and anguish to the surrounding community.

"Our administration is dedicated to stamping out this type of crime across the UK, by augmenting resources to combat waste crime, recruiting more personnel and introducing more severe checks and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The arrests were made on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated organised crime unit and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in last November. He was released pending more inquiries.