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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an probe into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of refuse in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the massive heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a previous revelation which uncovered the existence of in excess of 500 unlawful dumps across England, including at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities stated that the detentions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime offences and were a "crucial step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been let go on bail.

Scale of the Problem

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is believed to hold about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of rubbish is consists of what appears to be sorted residential rubbish, shredded plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and other household articles.

It constitutes just a single of 517 illegal dumps throughout England, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total figure of such bigger dumps is likely to be higher, as the environment agency has earlier indicated it does not maintain data on tonnage for every illegal site.

A large proportion of sites are in countryside locations, typically hidden, and on land that should be farm land.

Criminal Enterprise

Police report numerous are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making money by charging significantly less than lawful firms to accept and dispose of waste.

Businesses have to incur disposal fees to use legitimate waste facilities, based on the quantity and nature of material they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Initial operations to remove the Kidlington area dump started earlier this month following fears over the risk of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A commercial waste clearance contractor has been awarded the job to deal with the area over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the country's environment unit stated that the authority would be looking to recover the clean-up costs under asset recovery laws from any party ultimately prosecuted at the end of its active investigation.

She further stated that these apprehensions would help "push the investigation forward" and permit authorities to "follow more avenues to understand exactly what occurred and who was a party to it".

"The illegal site at Kidlington was an appalling and deliberate assault on our ecology and officials understand the public's frustration at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A cabinet representative praised the detentions, adding: "This unlawful tipping of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has resulted in substantial damage to the natural world and anguish to the local population.

"The authorities is dedicated to eradicating this kind of criminality in the country, by boosting funds to tackle illegal dumping, employing more personnel and introducing stricter checks and penalties for those who violate the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by personnel from a specialist crime unit and are in addition to an prior arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was released awaiting additional investigations.