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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in association with the huge heap of garbage tipped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a recent investigation which revealed the operation of over 500 unlawful tips across the country of England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental authorities stated that the arrests were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "vital step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The dump in the Kidlington area, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain around 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of waste is made up of what seems to be processed household waste, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, tires and various everyday items.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal sites across England, at least 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall number of such bigger locations is expected to be larger, as the regulatory authority has earlier stated it does not possess data on tonnage for every illegal site.

A large proportion of these sites are in agricultural areas, typically hidden, and on land that should be farm ground.

Organized Enterprise

Law enforcement state many are operated by organized crime groups, who are earning money by charging significantly less than licensed companies to take and bury garbage.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use lawful disposal sites, contingent on the amount and category of material they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Initial operations to clear the affected dump commenced earlier this month following fears over the threat of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by A-road.

A private clean-up firm has been given the contract to deal with the location over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the government regulatory unit said that the agency would be aiming to recoup the clean-up funds under confiscation acts from anyone successfully convicted at the conclusion of its current investigation.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and permit the agency to "pursue more leads to determine exactly what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This illegal tip at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated assault on our environment and we empathize with the local outrage at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A government representative praised the arrests, stating: "The unauthorized tipping of waste at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has caused considerable damage to the environment and distress to the nearby community.

"Our government is pledged to stamping out this kind of criminality across the nation, by boosting funds to combat waste crime, hiring more staff and introducing tougher controls and sanctions for those who violate the law."

The apprehensions were made on Thursday by agents from a dedicated serious crime unit and come after an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was set free subject to additional enquiries.