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Two individuals have been arrested as an element of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the huge mound of waste deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions occur a week after a previous report which exposed the presence of in excess of 500 unlawful tips across England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental body commented that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering violations and represented a "key step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been set free on conditional release.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold around 21,000 metric tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what seems to be treated domestic refuse, fragmented plastic items, polystyrene, tyres and various domestic items.

It is just a single of 517 illegal dumps in England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tonnes of garbage. They feature a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual figure of such bigger dumps is probably to be higher, as the environment body has previously indicated it does not maintain records on tonnage for each unauthorized site.

The majority such locations are in rural areas, often out of sight, and on land that is intended to be farm ground.

Organised Operations

Law enforcement state numerous are managed by criminal organizations, who are generating cash by demanding significantly less than licensed firms to receive and bury garbage.

Companies have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed waste facilities, based on the volume and nature of waste they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Anger

Preparatory efforts to remove the Kidlington area location began recently amid concerns over the threat of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste clearance company has been granted the contract to deal with the location over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations manager for the country's environmental crime division stated that the body would be aiming to claim back the remediation funds under asset recovery laws from anyone ultimately found guilty at the conclusion of its active inquiry.

She added that the recent apprehensions would help "move the probe forward" and permit officials to "follow more lines of inquiry to understand precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"This illegal dump at the site was an shocking and calculated affront on our environment and the authorities share the community's outrage at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A government minister praised the arrests, commenting: "The unlawful deposit of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has caused significant detriment to the environment and anguish to the surrounding population.

"The authorities is committed to eradicating this kind of criminality in the UK, by boosting funds to address illegal dumping, recruiting more personnel and introducing tougher checks and penalties for those who violate the law."

The arrests were executed on Thursday by personnel from a dedicated crime squad and are in addition to an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was set free awaiting further inquiries.