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A pair of individuals have been detained as a component of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of thousands of tons of refuse in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough in association with the huge pile of rubbish deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions come after a previous report which exposed the existence of more than 500 illegal dumps in England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment authorities stated that the detentions were for ecological and money laundering violations and constituted a "crucial step" in ongoing probes. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The dump in near Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34 road, is believed to hold around 21,000 tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of waste is made up of what looks to be sorted household refuse, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and various everyday objects.

It represents just one example of 517 unlawful tips across the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of waste. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such bigger locations is probably to be higher, as the environment agency has previously stated it does not maintain information on volume for every unauthorized site.

Most sites are in countryside locations, typically hidden, and on land that is zoned as farm land.

Criminal Operations

Law enforcement report a significant number are run by organized crime groups, who are making cash by charging much less than lawful firms to receive and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to be liable for site fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the volume and nature of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington location began in recent weeks due to fears over the risk of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by major road.

A commercial waste removal firm has been given the contract to handle the site over the coming 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the country's regulatory team said that the agency would be aiming to recover the remediation funds under confiscation legislation from anyone successfully prosecuted at the termination of its active inquiry.

She further stated that these arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more leads to ascertain precisely what occurred and who was implicated".

"This illegal site at Kidlington was an atrocious and intentional attack on our environment and the authorities understand the local frustration at this horrific offence," she remarked.

A government minister praised the detentions, stating: "This unauthorized deposit of garbage at this location is disgraceful and has caused considerable detriment to the natural world and upset to the nearby population.

"Our administration is pledged to stamping out this category of illegal activity in the UK, by increasing financing to address illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and enacting more severe controls and penalties for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by personnel from a regional organised crime team and follow an prior apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area area in last November. He was let go pending more inquiries.