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Two men have been arrested as an element of an investigation into the tipping of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in association with the huge heap of garbage dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions follow a prior revelation which uncovered the existence of more than 500 unlawful sites in England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment authorities commented that the arrests were for ecological and financial offences and represented a "key step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 tons of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of waste is made up of what seems to be treated household rubbish, shredded plastic items, polystyrene, tires and various everyday objects.

It is just one example of 517 unauthorized tips in the country, at minimum 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total amount of such larger locations is probably to be greater, as the regulatory agency has previously stated it does not maintain information on volume for all illegal site.

A large proportion of such locations are in countryside locations, frequently concealed, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Organized Operations

Law enforcement say many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are making cash by demanding significantly less than licensed operators to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to incur disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, based on the amount and type of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Frustration

Preparation work to clear the Kidlington area dump commenced in recent weeks following fears over the threat of combustion and the effect that would have on the close-by major road.

A commercial waste clearance firm has been granted the contract to handle the location over the coming 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the country's environmental crime unit said that the body would be seeking to recoup the remediation costs under proceeds of crime legislation from any individual ultimately found guilty at the conclusion of its ongoing investigation.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow officials to "pursue more avenues to determine in detail what transpired and who was involved".

"The unlawful site at the site was an appalling and intentional assault on our natural surroundings and officials empathize with the local frustration at this horrific crime," she remarked.

A government representative supported the detentions, stating: "This unlawful deposit of waste at the site is appalling and has led to significant detriment to the environment and upset to the local population.

"The government is dedicated to stamping out this type of crime throughout the nation, by boosting funds to tackle environmental crime, hiring more staff and implementing tougher controls and penalties for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were executed on Thursday by officers from a regional serious crime team and come after an prior apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in last November. He was let go awaiting additional investigations.