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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the dumping of thousands of tonnes of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough in association with the massive mound of rubbish tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a recent report which exposed the existence of over 500 unlawful sites in England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental agency stated that the arrests were for ecological and financial violations and represented a "key step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The dump in the Kidlington area, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is believed to contain approximately 21,000 metric tons of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of waste is consists of what looks to be sorted domestic refuse, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, tyres and various household objects.

It is just one example of 517 unlawful dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The total amount of such larger locations is expected to be larger, as the environment authority has in the past stated it does not possess records on weight for each unauthorized dump.

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

Organized Activity

Law enforcement state many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are earning cash by asking for far less than lawful companies to receive and dispose of waste.

Firms have to pay site fees to use lawful landfill sites, contingent on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparatory efforts to clean up the Kidlington area site commenced recently following worries over the potential of blaze and the effect that would have on the nearby highway.

A commercial clean-up company has been given the job to handle the site over the coming 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government environment division commented that the body would be seeking to recoup the clearance costs under asset recovery acts from anyone ultimately prosecuted at the termination of its ongoing inquiry.

She added that the recent arrests would help "move the probe forward" and enable authorities to "pursue more avenues to ascertain exactly what transpired and who was a party to it".

"This illegal dump at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated assault on our ecology and we understand the public's frustration at this terrible crime," she stated.

A government minister supported the detentions, commenting: "This unlawful deposit of garbage at this location is disgraceful and has led to significant detriment to the natural world and distress to the nearby residents.

"The government is committed to eliminating this kind of crime across the nation, by increasing resources to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and enacting tougher measures and sanctions for those who break the law."

The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by officers from a specialist serious crime unit and follow an previous detention of a man in his thirties from the Surrey area in last November. He was set free subject to additional investigations.