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Two individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an investigation into the tipping of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the massive heap of rubbish dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions occur a week after a recent revelation which revealed the presence of in excess of 500 unauthorized sites throughout the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environmental agency stated that the arrests were for environment-related and proceeds of crime offences and constituted a "vital step" in continuing probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is believed to house around 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of waste is made up of what looks to be processed household waste, chopped up plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tyres and other everyday objects.

It is just one example of 517 illegal tips across the country, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The overall number of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the environmental agency has earlier indicated it does not possess information on volume for every unlawful site.

The majority such locations are in agricultural locations, typically hidden, and on land that is zoned as farm ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement say many are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating money by demanding significantly less than licensed firms to receive and bury rubbish.

Companies have to be liable for disposal fees to use lawful waste facilities, contingent on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Frustration

Initial operations to clean up the affected dump commenced earlier this month amid worries over the potential of fire and the consequences that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private waste clearance company has been awarded the contract to remediate the site over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government regulatory division stated that the authority would be aiming to recoup the remediation expenses under asset recovery laws from any party prosecuted at the conclusion of its ongoing case.

She noted that these arrests would help "drive the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "investigate more avenues to understand exactly what occurred and who was involved".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an appalling and intentional attack on our environment and officials empathize with the community's outrage at this egregious act," she said.

A government official supported the arrests, commenting: "The unauthorized dumping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused significant harm to the natural world and distress to the local community.

"The administration is pledged to stamping out this type of crime in the UK, by increasing funds to address environmental crime, hiring more officers and introducing more severe checks and fines for those who flout the rules."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by personnel from a dedicated organised crime unit and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was set free subject to further inquiries.