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Two men have been arrested as an element of an inquiry into the tipping of several thousand of tonnes of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a property in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough in association with the enormous pile of waste dumped near Kidlington.

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

A official for the environment authorities stated that the apprehensions were for ecological and money laundering offences and constituted a "key step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been let go on pre-trial release.

Size of the Problem

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to hold about 21,000 tonnes of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what looks to be sorted household rubbish, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted household objects.

It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful tips in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. They feature a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total figure of such bigger sites is probably to be higher, as the environment body has earlier stated it does not possess data on weight for all unlawful tip.

A large proportion of sites are in countryside locations, often concealed, and on land that should be arable ground.

Organized Activity

Authorities report a significant number are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning money by charging much less than licensed operators to accept and landfill waste.

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

Community Frustration

Preparatory efforts to remove the affected location began recently due to worries over the potential of fire and the consequences that would have on the nearby major road.

A contracted waste removal firm has been given the job to remediate the area over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the government regulatory division stated that the body would be seeking to recoup the remediation funds under asset recovery acts from anyone successfully convicted at the end of its active investigation.

She added that these apprehensions would help "move the investigation forward" and enable officials to "follow more avenues to understand exactly what happened and who was involved".

"This illegal site at the site was an shocking and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and the authorities share the community's frustration at this egregious act," she stated.

A senior official praised the detentions, stating: "The unauthorized tipping of waste at the site is appalling and has caused significant detriment to the natural world and anguish to the nearby residents.

"The administration is committed to eradicating this category of crime across the nation, by increasing financing to combat waste crime, recruiting more personnel and enacting stricter measures and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by agents from a specialist serious crime team and come after an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in last November. He was released pending more enquiries.