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A pair of individuals have been arrested as an element of an probe into the tipping of many thousands of tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the enormous mound of waste tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions come after a recent investigation which revealed the existence of over 500 unlawful dumps throughout England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency commented that the arrests were for environment-related and financial offences and represented a "key step" in continuing probes. The apprehended men have been released on bail.

Magnitude of the Issue

The illegal site in Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to hold around 21,000 metric tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is consists of what appears to be treated household waste, fragmented plastic items, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted household articles.

It constitutes just one of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tons of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The total figure of such major locations is expected to be larger, as the environment body has earlier stated it does not possess data on weight for all unlawful tip.

A large proportion of such locations are in agricultural locations, often out of sight, and on land that is zoned as agricultural land.

Organized Enterprise

Police say numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating profit by asking for far less than lawful operators to take and dispose of waste.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use lawful disposal sites, contingent on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Local Frustration

Preparation work to remove the Kidlington location started earlier this month due to concerns over the risk of fire and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste clearance company has been given the job to deal with the location over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the country's environmental crime unit said that the authority would be looking to recover the clean-up funds under proceeds of crime acts from any party ultimately found guilty at the end of its ongoing investigation.

She added that these apprehensions would help "push the probe forward" and permit the agency to "follow more leads to ascertain precisely what occurred and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful tip at this location was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment and officials understand the community's anger at this horrific offence," she said.

A senior official praised the actions, adding: "This unauthorized dumping of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has led to substantial detriment to the natural world and upset to the surrounding community.

"Our authorities is committed to stamping out this type of criminality across the nation, by boosting funds to combat environmental crime, recruiting more staff and enacting tougher measures and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The arrests were executed on Thursday by agents from a dedicated crime squad and come after an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in last November. He was let go awaiting further inquiries.