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Two men have been arrested as part of an investigation into the dumping of several thousand of tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in relation with the massive pile of rubbish tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions come after a recent report which revealed the operation of over 500 unlawful tips throughout the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment agency commented that the arrests were for ecological and financial violations and represented a "vital step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been let go on bail.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, located between the river Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to contain approximately 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of waste is made up of what looks to be sorted household rubbish, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, tyres and assorted household items.

It represents just one example of 517 unlawful sites throughout the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual amount of such larger dumps is probably to be larger, as the regulatory body has in the past indicated it does not possess records on volume for all unlawful tip.

Most sites are in countryside settings, typically hidden, and on land that is zoned as agricultural ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement say numerous are managed by organized crime groups, who are earning cash by asking for much less than legitimate companies to take and dispose of waste.

Businesses have to pay gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, depending on the volume and category of refuse they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Anger

Preparation work to clean up the Kidlington site commenced recently following concerns over the risk of fire and the impact that would have on the adjacent highway.

A contracted waste clearance contractor has been given the contract to deal with the site over the next 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government environment division stated that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clean-up costs under confiscation legislation from any individual ultimately found guilty at the conclusion of its current inquiry.

She added that these apprehensions would help "push the probe forward" and allow the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what happened and who was involved".

"This unauthorized site at Kidlington was an shocking and intentional attack on our ecology and the authorities share the community's outrage at this egregious act," she stated.

A cabinet official welcomed the actions, stating: "This illegal deposit of garbage at this location is utterly appalling and has led to considerable detriment to the environment and distress to the nearby population.

"Our administration is dedicated to eradicating this kind of crime across the UK, by increasing resources to address environmental crime, recruiting more staff and introducing tougher measures and penalties for those who flout the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on a recent Thursday by agents from a specialist organised crime unit and follow an prior detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area area in the autumn. He was set free pending more investigations.