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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of tons of waste in a field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the huge pile of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a recent report which uncovered the existence of over 500 illegal sites across the country of England, featuring at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the environment body stated that the arrests were for environment-related and financial violations and constituted a "vital step" in ongoing investigations. Both men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of garbage is consists of what seems to be processed residential rubbish, chopped up plastic items, expanded polystyrene, tires and assorted household articles.

It is just one example of 517 unauthorized dumps in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual figure of such bigger sites is expected to be greater, as the environmental agency has earlier acknowledged it does not hold information on weight for each illegal site.

Most sites are in agricultural areas, often hidden, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Criminal Enterprise

Police state a significant number are run by organized crime groups, who are making money by charging far less than licensed companies to accept and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to be liable for gate fees to use legitimate waste facilities, depending on the amount and nature of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Frustration

Preparatory work to clear the Kidlington area dump started earlier this month following concerns over the risk of blaze and the impact that would have on the close-by highway.

A private waste clearance contractor has been given the contract to deal with the area over the coming 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government environmental crime division stated that the agency would be seeking to claim back the remediation costs under asset recovery laws from any party prosecuted at the conclusion of its ongoing case.

She noted that this week's detentions would help "move the investigation forward" and enable the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what transpired and who was implicated".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an shocking and calculated assault on our ecology and the authorities understand the public's frustration at this horrific offence," she said.

A cabinet official praised the actions, commenting: "The unlawful dumping of garbage at this location is appalling and has resulted in considerable harm to the environment and distress to the nearby community.

"The authorities is dedicated to stamping out this kind of illegal activity in the nation, by augmenting funds to tackle waste crime, employing more staff and introducing stricter controls and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were executed on a recent Thursday by personnel from a dedicated organised crime unit and come after an previous detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in last November. He was set free awaiting more investigations.