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Two men have been arrested as a component of an inquiry into the dumping of thousands of metric tons of waste in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in connection with the huge heap of rubbish deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a prior investigation which exposed the existence of over 500 unlawful dumps throughout England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment authorities said that the arrests were for environment-related and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "key step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Problem

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain about 21,000 tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of waste is composed of what seems to be sorted household waste, chopped up plastic materials, polystyrene, tyres and other everyday articles.

It constitutes just one example of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual number of such bigger sites is likely to be larger, as the regulatory agency has in the past indicated it does not possess information on tonnage for every unlawful dump.

The majority such locations are in agricultural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable land.

Organized Enterprise

Law enforcement state a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are generating cash by demanding far less than licensed operators to accept and bury garbage.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, based on the quantity and type of refuse they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Anger

Preparation work to clear the affected dump started in recent weeks amid worries over the threat of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by major road.

A private waste clearance firm has been given the contract to handle the site over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the national environment team commented that the body would be looking to claim back the clean-up costs under asset recovery legislation from any party convicted at the end of its current investigation.

She further stated that these apprehensions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit authorities to "pursue more avenues to ascertain precisely what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful site at this location was an appalling and calculated assault on our ecology and officials understand the public's frustration at this horrific act," she said.

A government official welcomed the arrests, adding: "This illegal tipping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused substantial harm to the ecology and upset to the nearby community.

"Our administration is dedicated to stamping out this type of crime in the nation, by augmenting financing to address illegal dumping, hiring more staff and enacting tougher checks and fines for those who break the law."

The detentions were made on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional crime squad and are in addition to an previous arrest of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in November. He was let go awaiting more enquiries.