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Two individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an investigation into the dumping of thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials stated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough in connection with the enormous pile of garbage dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions follow a recent revelation which revealed the operation of over 500 unauthorized sites throughout the country of England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the environment body stated that the arrests were for environmental and financial offences and constituted a "key step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34, is believed to house about 21,000 tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of waste is made up of what seems to be sorted domestic refuse, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household objects.

It represents just one of 517 unauthorized sites across England, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tons of rubbish. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall amount of such bigger sites is likely to be larger, as the regulatory authority has previously acknowledged it does not possess data on weight for each illegal site.

Most such locations are in agricultural areas, often out of sight, and on land that is zoned as farm land.

Criminal Operations

Authorities say numerous are managed by organised crime gangs, who are generating cash by demanding much less than lawful firms to take and bury waste.

Companies have to incur disposal fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the quantity and category of material they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Public Outrage

Initial work to remove the Kidlington site began recently due to fears over the threat of blaze and the impact that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private waste clearance company has been given the contract to remediate the site over the next 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the government environment division stated that the body would be aiming to recoup the clearance costs under asset recovery laws from any party ultimately found guilty at the end of its current inquiry.

She added that these arrests would help "push the inquiry forward" and allow officials to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"This illegal site at this location was an appalling and deliberate attack on our natural surroundings and the authorities understand the local outrage at this egregious offence," she stated.

A senior official praised the actions, adding: "This illegal dumping of rubbish at this location is disgraceful and has resulted in significant harm to the natural world and distress to the surrounding residents.

"Our government is dedicated to eradicating this type of crime in the country, by boosting financing to address illegal dumping, employing more officers and implementing tougher checks and penalties for those who violate the regulations."

The detentions were carried out on the specified day by personnel from a specialist organised crime team and are in addition to an previous arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in November. He was let go pending further inquiries.