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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the tipping of several thousand of tonnes of refuse in a field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the huge mound of rubbish dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions follow a previous revelation which exposed the operation of in excess of 500 illegal sites in England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment body commented that the apprehensions were for environmental and financial violations and were a "key step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Problem

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is thought to hold about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is consists of what seems to be processed household waste, chopped up plastic items, expanded polystyrene, tyres and various everyday articles.

It represents just one example of 517 unlawful tips in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total amount of such bigger locations is likely to be larger, as the environmental agency has in the past acknowledged it does not maintain information on weight for each illegal site.

Most sites are in rural settings, frequently concealed, and on land that should be arable land.

Organized Operations

Authorities say many are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by charging significantly less than licensed operators to take and landfill rubbish.

Firms have to incur site fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the volume and category of material they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Public Outrage

Preparatory work to clear the Kidlington location commenced in recent weeks following worries over the potential of blaze and the consequences that would have on the nearby A-road.

A commercial clean-up company has been awarded the task to handle the area over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the country's environmental crime team commented that the authority would be aiming to recover the clearance funds under asset recovery acts from any individual convicted at the end of its current case.

She added that the recent apprehensions would help "push the probe forward" and enable authorities to "pursue more lines of inquiry to understand in detail what transpired and who was implicated".

"The illegal tip at this location was an shocking and deliberate attack on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the local anger at this egregious offence," she stated.

A government official praised the detentions, commenting: "This unauthorized deposit of garbage at this location is appalling and has resulted in significant damage to the environment and distress to the nearby residents.

"Our government is pledged to stamping out this kind of illegal activity in the UK, by boosting financing to combat environmental crime, recruiting more personnel and introducing stricter measures and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The apprehensions were carried out on Thursday by officers from a regional serious crime unit and follow an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was released pending additional enquiries.