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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an probe into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in connection with the enormous pile of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions follow a previous revelation which revealed the presence of in excess of 500 unauthorized sites throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "major sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the regulatory body said that the apprehensions were for ecological and financial violations and represented a "key step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to house approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish 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 sorted household rubbish, chopped up plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and various household articles.

It represents just one example of 517 unauthorized sites in England, at a minimum of 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tons of rubbish. They include a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The actual amount of such bigger sites is likely to be greater, as the environment body has earlier indicated it does not possess data on weight for all illegal site.

A large proportion of sites are in rural locations, frequently concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural land.

Criminal Enterprise

Police say numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating money by charging significantly less than licensed operators to accept and landfill waste.

Businesses have to incur site fees to use legitimate waste facilities, based on the quantity and type of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Preparatory efforts to clean up the affected dump began recently following worries over the risk of combustion and the impact that would have on the adjacent major road.

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

An compliance official for the national environmental crime team said that the authority would be aiming to recoup the clean-up expenses under asset recovery laws from any party successfully found guilty at the termination of its ongoing inquiry.

She noted that these apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable the agency to "investigate more leads to ascertain precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at the site was an shocking and intentional attack on our environment and we understand the local outrage at this horrific crime," she stated.

A cabinet official welcomed the actions, adding: "This unlawful tipping of waste at the site is disgraceful and has caused substantial damage to the natural world and anguish to the surrounding residents.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this category of criminality throughout the UK, by boosting funds to address environmental crime, hiring more personnel and enacting more severe measures and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The arrests were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional serious crime unit and follow an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in the autumn. He was let go awaiting additional enquiries.