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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an probe into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the massive pile of garbage tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions follow a prior report which exposed the existence of in excess of 500 unauthorized sites in the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment authorities commented that the apprehensions were for environmental and financial crimes and represented a "vital step" in ongoing investigations. Both men have been set free on conditional release.

Size of the Problem

The illegal site in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to house around 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what appears to be sorted household waste, shredded plastics, polystyrene, tires and assorted everyday articles.

It is just a single of 517 unauthorized sites in the country, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 tons of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The overall amount of such bigger dumps is expected to be higher, as the environmental agency has previously acknowledged it does not hold information on tonnage for all unauthorized tip.

The majority these sites are in agricultural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Organized Activity

Police state a significant number are operated by organized crime groups, who are making money by charging much less than licensed firms to take and bury waste.

Companies have to incur gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, contingent on the amount and type of waste they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparatory operations to clear the affected dump began in recent weeks amid fears over the risk of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A contracted clean-up firm has been awarded the job to remediate the location over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's regulatory unit commented that the agency would be looking to recoup the clearance expenses under proceeds of crime legislation from any individual ultimately convicted at the end of its active inquiry.

She further stated that these detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow the agency to "investigate more leads to understand in detail what occurred and who was implicated".

"The unlawful tip at the site was an atrocious and intentional attack on our environment and officials understand the public's outrage at this terrible crime," she said.

A government minister welcomed the arrests, stating: "This unlawful tipping of waste at the site is appalling and has caused significant harm to the natural world and upset to the surrounding community.

"Our authorities is pledged to stamping out this kind of crime across the UK, by boosting funds to combat environmental crime, hiring more officers and enacting tougher measures and sanctions for those who flout the rules."

The detentions were made on the specified day by officers from a dedicated serious crime team and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was set free awaiting further inquiries.