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Two men have been arrested as part of an investigation into the dumping of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the huge heap of waste tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests come after a recent revelation which exposed the existence of more than 500 unlawful sites across England, featuring at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the regulatory body commented that the detentions were for ecological and proceeds of crime offences and represented a "key step" in continuing investigations. Both men have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The dump in the Kidlington area, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34, is believed to contain about 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is composed of what appears to be sorted residential refuse, fragmented plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and various everyday items.

It is just one of 517 unauthorized dumps in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The total number of such major sites is probably to be higher, as the environment body has earlier acknowledged it does not possess records on volume for every unlawful tip.

The majority such locations are in rural settings, often concealed, and on land that should be farm land.

Criminal Activity

Authorities report many are managed by organized crime groups, who are earning profit by charging significantly less than licensed companies to take and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to incur gate fees to use licensed landfill sites, based on the volume and nature of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Community Frustration

Preparation operations to clear the Kidlington area dump commenced earlier this month amid concerns over the risk of fire and the consequences that would have on the adjacent highway.

A contracted clean-up company has been granted the task to deal with the area over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the country's regulatory division commented that the agency would be looking to recover the clearance expenses under asset recovery legislation from any individual prosecuted at the end of its current investigation.

She added that these arrests would help "push the probe forward" and allow officials to "pursue more avenues to understand in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"This illegal dump at this location was an appalling and intentional attack on our environment and officials understand the local frustration at this egregious offence," she stated.

A senior representative supported the actions, commenting: "The illegal tipping of garbage at this location is appalling and has caused significant detriment to the natural world and distress to the nearby residents.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this type of illegal activity throughout the country, by boosting resources to combat waste crime, employing more officers and implementing stricter measures and fines for those who break the law."

The detentions were made on the specified day by officers from a regional serious crime squad and follow an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in November. He was let go awaiting more enquiries.