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A pair of individuals have been arrested as a component of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in association with the huge pile of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a recent investigation which exposed the operation of over 500 unlawful sites throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment agency said that the detentions were for environment-related and financial violations and constituted a "vital step" in active probes. Both men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to hold approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is consists of what looks to be treated household waste, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, tyres and other domestic objects.

It represents just one of 517 unauthorized dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total number of such larger sites is likely to be higher, as the environmental body has earlier acknowledged it does not maintain data on tonnage for every illegal tip.

The majority such locations are in agricultural settings, typically out of sight, and on land that is zoned as farm ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Authorities say many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are making money by demanding much less than licensed operators to take and bury waste.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use licensed disposal sites, based on the amount and nature of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparatory efforts to clear the Kidlington dump started in recent weeks following concerns over the threat of blaze and the consequences that would have on the close-by highway.

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

An compliance manager for the national environmental crime unit commented that the body would be looking to claim back the clean-up expenses under proceeds of crime legislation from anyone convicted at the conclusion of its current case.

She further stated that these detentions would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "follow more avenues to ascertain exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and intentional assault on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the public's outrage at this terrible offence," she stated.

A senior official supported the arrests, commenting: "The unlawful tipping of garbage at this location is utterly appalling and has resulted in significant harm to the natural world and distress to the nearby community.

"Our administration is committed to eliminating this kind of illegal activity throughout the country, by augmenting resources to combat waste crime, hiring more personnel and enacting stricter measures and fines for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were executed on Thursday by agents from a regional serious crime unit and follow an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in last November. He was set free awaiting further investigations.