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Two individuals have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough in connection with the enormous mound of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a prior report which exposed the operation of more than 500 illegal tips throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body stated that the detentions were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "key step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is estimated to contain around 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of rubbish is composed of what looks to be processed residential refuse, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted domestic objects.

It represents just one of 517 unlawful tips across England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tons of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual number of such larger dumps is expected to be larger, as the environmental body has earlier acknowledged it does not hold records on volume for every unauthorized site.

The majority sites are in countryside locations, often out of sight, and on land that should be arable property.

Criminal Enterprise

Authorities report numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are making money by charging much less than legitimate firms to receive and dispose of waste.

Firms have to incur gate fees to use lawful waste facilities, depending on the quantity and type of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparation work to clear the Kidlington area dump began recently amid concerns over the risk of blaze and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private clean-up firm has been given the contract to handle the location over the coming 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the country's environment team stated that the body would be aiming to recover the clearance funds under asset recovery acts from any party successfully prosecuted at the termination of its ongoing case.

She further stated that the recent apprehensions would help "push the investigation forward" and enable officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain exactly what transpired and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our ecology and we empathize with the community's outrage at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A cabinet representative praised the detentions, adding: "This illegal tipping of rubbish at this location is utterly appalling and has caused significant detriment to the environment and distress to the nearby community.

"The authorities is dedicated to eliminating this category of crime throughout the UK, by augmenting financing to combat illegal dumping, hiring more officers and implementing more severe measures and fines for those who violate the regulations."

The detentions were executed on the specified day by officers from a dedicated crime unit and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Surrey area in last November. He was let go awaiting additional enquiries.