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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the tipping of thousands of tons of waste in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in association with the massive mound of waste tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions follow a recent report which uncovered the existence of over 500 unlawful sites throughout England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment agency said that the apprehensions were for environmental and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "key step" in ongoing investigations. Both men have been released on bail.

Magnitude of the Situation

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34, is thought to hold around 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of garbage is made up of what seems to be sorted household rubbish, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, tyres and various household objects.

It is just one example of 517 illegal dumps in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 tonnes of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total number of such major dumps is likely to be larger, as the regulatory body has in the past indicated it does not possess information on volume for each unauthorized dump.

The majority sites are in rural locations, often hidden, and on land that should be agricultural ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Authorities state a significant number are managed by organised crime gangs, who are making cash by charging much less than licensed firms to receive and landfill waste.

Businesses have to pay site fees to use licensed waste facilities, contingent on the volume and nature of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Frustration

Initial operations to clear the affected site commenced in recent weeks due to fears over the potential of combustion and the consequences that would have on the nearby highway.

A commercial clean-up firm has been awarded the task to deal with the location over the coming 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the national regulatory division commented that the authority would be seeking to recover the remediation expenses under confiscation acts from any individual successfully found guilty at the termination of its active case.

She added that these arrests would help "move the probe forward" and enable officials to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine in detail what happened and who was involved".

"This unlawful tip at this location was an appalling and calculated attack on our natural surroundings and we empathize with the local anger at this horrific crime," she remarked.

A government representative welcomed the arrests, stating: "The unauthorized tipping of garbage at the site is disgraceful and has resulted in substantial harm to the natural world and distress to the local population.

"Our government is dedicated to eradicating this category of crime throughout the UK, by augmenting financing to address waste crime, recruiting more staff and enacting stricter controls and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a specialist crime team and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was let go subject to additional inquiries.