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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in connection with the massive pile of waste dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests occur a week after a previous revelation which exposed the existence of in excess of 500 unlawful dumps across England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities said that the arrests were for ecological and financial violations and constituted a "crucial step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been released on bail.

Magnitude of the Situation

The illegal site in Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of rubbish is composed of what looks to be treated residential refuse, shredded plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and other domestic items.

It is just a single of 517 unlawful sites throughout the country, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall number of such major locations is probably to be higher, as the environmental authority has previously acknowledged it does not maintain information on volume for each unauthorized dump.

Most these sites are in agricultural settings, often concealed, and on land that should be arable land.

Criminal Activity

Law enforcement state many are run by organized crime groups, who are making money by demanding far less than legitimate operators to take and dispose of garbage.

Businesses have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed disposal sites, depending on the volume and category of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Initial work to clear the Kidlington site commenced recently due to worries over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby highway.

A commercial clean-up company has been granted the job to deal with the area over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government regulatory division commented that the body would be aiming to recover the remediation expenses under asset recovery laws from anyone found guilty at the termination of its current case.

She added that these arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable authorities to "follow more avenues to ascertain exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"This illegal tip at Kidlington was an shocking and calculated assault on our environment and we empathize with the community's anger at this egregious offence," she said.

A senior official supported the detentions, adding: "This unauthorized deposit of rubbish at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has resulted in significant harm to the ecology and distress to the nearby population.

"The administration is dedicated to eradicating this type of criminality in the UK, by boosting financing to tackle environmental crime, recruiting more officers and implementing stricter measures and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were carried out on the specified day by agents from a regional crime unit and are in addition to an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was set free awaiting more inquiries.