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Two men have been taken into custody as a component of an probe into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the enormous pile of waste dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests come after a prior revelation which uncovered the operation of over 500 unlawful tips throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body commented that the detentions were for environment-related and money laundering crimes and represented a "vital step" in continuing inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Size of the Problem

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

This pile of garbage is made up of what appears to be processed household refuse, chopped up plastics, Styrofoam, tyres and various household items.

It constitutes just one of 517 illegal dumps in England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The total figure of such major sites is likely to be larger, as the environmental body has in the past indicated it does not maintain information on weight for each unauthorized dump.

A large proportion of sites are in agricultural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that should be farm property.

Organised Activity

Police report numerous are operated by organised crime gangs, who are generating money by charging much less than licensed companies to receive and dispose of garbage.

Businesses have to incur disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, contingent on the quantity and category of material they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Anger

Preparation operations to clear the Kidlington dump started recently following concerns over the threat of blaze and the consequences that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial waste clearance company has been awarded the contract to handle the site over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the government environment division stated that the body would be looking to recover the clean-up expenses under asset recovery acts from any party successfully prosecuted at the conclusion of its active investigation.

She added that the recent arrests would help "drive the inquiry forward" and permit officials to "follow more avenues to determine in detail what transpired and who was a party to it".

"The illegal tip at the site was an atrocious and intentional attack on our natural surroundings and the authorities share the local outrage at this terrible act," she stated.

A senior representative welcomed the detentions, commenting: "The unauthorized dumping of rubbish at this location is appalling and has led to considerable harm to the natural world and upset to the nearby community.

"Our administration is pledged to eradicating this kind of crime in the UK, by boosting financing to address environmental crime, employing more staff and implementing tougher checks and sanctions for those who break the law."

The arrests were carried out on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated crime unit and are in addition to an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in November. He was set free awaiting additional investigations.