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Two men have been arrested as an element of an probe into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in relation with the massive mound of waste tipped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a recent revelation which uncovered the operation of more than 500 unlawful tips in the country of England, featuring at least 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities stated that the apprehensions were for ecological and money laundering violations and constituted a "key step" in continuing investigations. Both men have been set free on conditional release.

Size of the Situation

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what seems to be processed residential rubbish, chopped up plastics, expanded polystyrene, tires and other domestic articles.

It represents just one of 517 illegal dumps in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual number of such bigger locations is likely to be higher, as the environment agency has previously acknowledged it does not possess data on tonnage for every unlawful dump.

A large proportion of sites are in countryside areas, typically concealed, and on land that should be farm property.

Organised Activity

Law enforcement state a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are generating money by demanding significantly less than legitimate operators to take and landfill waste.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use licensed disposal sites, contingent on the quantity and nature of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Anger

Preparation efforts to clear the Kidlington site began recently due to fears over the potential of fire and the consequences that would have on the close-by A-road.

A private clean-up contractor has been granted the job to deal with the area over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the government regulatory team commented that the authority would be aiming to recover the remediation expenses under asset recovery acts from anyone ultimately prosecuted at the end of its current inquiry.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "move the probe forward" and allow authorities to "pursue more lines of inquiry to understand exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"This unlawful site at this location was an shocking and calculated attack on our ecology and we share the local anger at this terrible offence," she remarked.

A cabinet minister supported the detentions, commenting: "This unauthorized dumping of rubbish at Kidlington is appalling and has led to substantial detriment to the environment and anguish to the surrounding community.

"The administration is committed to eliminating this category of criminality throughout the UK, by augmenting funds to combat waste crime, employing more personnel and introducing stricter controls and penalties for those who break the rules."

The detentions were carried out on Thursday by personnel from a dedicated crime team and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in last November. He was set free subject to additional investigations.