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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an probe into the illegal deposit of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the enormous pile of waste deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions occur a week after a recent investigation which revealed the presence of in excess of 500 illegal tips in England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A official for the environment authorities commented that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering crimes and constituted a "vital step" in ongoing probes. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The dump in Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to house around 21,000 metric tons of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is consists of what seems to be processed residential rubbish, shredded plastic materials, polystyrene, automobile tires and various everyday articles.

It is just one of 517 unauthorized tips in England, at a minimum of 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. They feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The overall figure of such larger sites is likely to be larger, as the environmental body has in the past indicated it does not possess records on volume for each illegal dump.

Most such locations are in rural settings, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable property.

Organized Activity

Authorities report a significant number are run by organized crime groups, who are earning profit by charging far less than lawful operators to take and dispose of waste.

Businesses have to incur gate fees to use lawful waste facilities, based on the volume and nature of waste they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Preparation operations to clean up the affected dump began in recent weeks due to fears over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by major road.

A private waste clearance company has been granted the job to deal with the site over the next 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations manager for the government environment unit said that the agency would be looking to claim back the clearance costs under proceeds of crime acts from anyone successfully convicted at the conclusion of its active case.

She added that these detentions would help "push the probe forward" and permit authorities to "pursue more leads to understand in detail what happened and who was involved".

"This unauthorized site at this location was an shocking and deliberate affront on our natural surroundings and we share the public's outrage at this terrible offence," she stated.

A senior official welcomed the arrests, stating: "The unauthorized deposit of waste at this location is disgraceful and has caused considerable harm to the environment and anguish to the local residents.

"Our administration is pledged to eradicating this category of criminality throughout the country, by augmenting resources to address environmental crime, hiring more officers and introducing stricter measures and fines for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were executed on Thursday by personnel from a regional crime squad and follow an prior detention of a man in his thirties from the Surrey area in last November. He was let go pending more enquiries.