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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of refuse in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a property in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough in association with the huge heap of rubbish tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a recent investigation which revealed the presence of more than 500 unlawful sites throughout England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the regulatory agency stated that the detentions were for environment-related and financial violations and constituted a "vital step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on bail.

Size of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to house around 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is consists of what appears to be processed household rubbish, shredded plastic materials, Styrofoam, automobile tires and assorted domestic articles.

It represents just one of 517 unauthorized dumps across the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of garbage. These encompass a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall figure of such major sites is expected to be higher, as the regulatory body has earlier acknowledged it does not hold data on tonnage for every unauthorized site.

A large proportion of these sites are in agricultural locations, typically out of sight, and on land that is intended to be agricultural land.

Organised Activity

Police report many are run by criminal organizations, who are generating profit by asking for far less than lawful firms to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to incur disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, depending on the amount and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Initial work to clear the affected site started recently amid concerns over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial clean-up firm has been granted the job to handle the site over the coming 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government regulatory team stated that the agency would be looking to recoup the clean-up costs under confiscation legislation from any party found guilty at the conclusion of its ongoing inquiry.

She further stated that these arrests would help "push the investigation forward" and allow officials to "pursue more avenues to determine in detail what happened and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized dump at the site was an appalling and intentional attack on our ecology and we understand the community's frustration at this horrific act," she stated.

A senior representative welcomed the detentions, stating: "This unlawful deposit of waste at the site is disgraceful and has led to significant detriment to the natural world and distress to the surrounding community.

"The administration is dedicated to eradicating this kind of criminality throughout the nation, by boosting financing to tackle waste crime, hiring more personnel and implementing tougher checks and penalties for those who flout the law."

The arrests were executed on the specified day by personnel from a specialist serious crime unit and come after an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was released subject to more enquiries.