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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an inquiry into the tipping of thousands of tons of rubbish in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough in connection with the massive heap of rubbish dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a previous report which exposed the operation of in excess of 500 unauthorized tips across the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the regulatory body stated that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering crimes and were a "crucial step" in ongoing inquiries. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Problem

The dump in Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain approximately 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of garbage is made up of what appears to be treated domestic refuse, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, tyres and assorted domestic articles.

It is just one of 517 unauthorized dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. They include a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The overall figure of such larger locations is probably to be greater, as the regulatory body has previously indicated it does not maintain information on volume for all illegal dump.

Most such locations are in rural locations, typically hidden, and on land that is intended to be arable property.

Organised Operations

Authorities report many are run by criminal organizations, who are earning profit by asking for much less than licensed companies to receive and bury rubbish.

Firms have to be liable for site fees to use legitimate disposal sites, contingent on the amount and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Outrage

Preparation efforts to remove the affected dump started recently due to worries over the potential of blaze and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted waste removal company has been granted the contract to remediate the site over the coming 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national regulatory division stated that the agency would be seeking to recover the clearance costs under proceeds of crime laws from anyone successfully found guilty at the termination of its ongoing inquiry.

She added that these apprehensions would help "move the probe forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more leads to determine precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"This unlawful dump at Kidlington was an shocking and calculated assault on our ecology and the authorities share the public's anger at this egregious offence," she stated.

A government minister welcomed the actions, adding: "This unlawful dumping of waste at the site is disgraceful and has resulted in considerable harm to the environment and distress to the local residents.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this category of criminality throughout the country, by augmenting resources to combat illegal dumping, employing more staff and enacting tougher controls and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were carried out on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated crime team and come after an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was released awaiting further inquiries.