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Two men have been detained as a component of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in relation with the enormous heap of rubbish dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a previous revelation which uncovered the existence of over 500 illegal sites throughout England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental authorities commented that the detentions were for environment-related and financial violations and were a "key step" in active inquiries. The two individuals have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The dump in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to hold about 21,000 tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of waste is composed of what seems to be processed residential waste, chopped up plastics, Styrofoam, tires and other domestic articles.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful dumps in England, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 metric tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual amount of such larger locations is probably to be larger, as the environment agency has earlier acknowledged it does not possess records on volume for every unlawful dump.

Most these sites are in agricultural areas, often out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable property.

Organised Activity

Law enforcement state a significant number are operated by organised crime gangs, who are generating money by asking for far less than licensed companies to take and bury garbage.

Businesses have to pay gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, depending on the quantity and type of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparatory operations to remove the affected site commenced in recent weeks following concerns over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the adjacent highway.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been awarded the contract to handle the location over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the government environmental crime team said that the authority would be seeking to claim back the clean-up funds under asset recovery legislation from any party ultimately prosecuted at the termination of its ongoing inquiry.

She added that the recent detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and permit authorities to "investigate more leads to determine in detail what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This illegal dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate affront on our natural surroundings and the authorities understand the public's frustration at this horrific offence," she said.

A senior representative supported the detentions, adding: "The unauthorized tipping of rubbish at this location is appalling and has resulted in substantial damage to the natural world and anguish to the local residents.

"The authorities is pledged to eliminating this kind of illegal activity in the nation, by augmenting financing to address waste crime, employing more personnel and introducing stricter measures and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The detentions were made on Thursday by personnel from a specialist organised crime unit and come after an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was released awaiting additional enquiries.