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Two men have been taken into custody as an element of an probe into the tipping of thousands of tons of rubbish in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the huge mound of garbage tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions come after a prior report which uncovered the presence of over 500 illegal dumps in England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the environmental body commented that the apprehensions were for environment-related and money laundering violations and constituted a "crucial step" in continuing investigations. Both men have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of waste is made up of what looks to be processed domestic waste, fragmented plastics, polystyrene, tyres and various domestic items.

It constitutes just one example of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of waste. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total number of such major sites is likely to be higher, as the environmental authority has earlier indicated it does not maintain records on tonnage for all illegal site.

A large proportion of such locations are in agricultural areas, frequently hidden, and on land that is zoned as arable property.

Organized Enterprise

Police say many are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning profit by asking for much less than legitimate operators to receive and dispose of garbage.

Firms have to incur disposal fees to use licensed landfill sites, depending on the amount and type of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Outrage

Preparation work to clear the Kidlington site began in recent weeks due to worries over the risk of combustion and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A contracted waste removal firm has been awarded the task to handle the site over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the country's regulatory unit stated that the authority would be seeking to claim back the clearance expenses under asset recovery laws from any individual ultimately found guilty at the termination of its current inquiry.

She noted that this week's detentions would help "push the probe forward" and allow officials to "pursue more avenues to determine precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized site at the site was an appalling and deliberate attack on our environment and we share the local anger at this egregious crime," she stated.

A senior official welcomed the arrests, adding: "The illegal tipping of waste at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has caused significant damage to the environment and upset to the nearby residents.

"Our government is committed to eliminating this category of crime throughout the UK, by boosting resources to address environmental crime, hiring more officers and implementing more severe measures and fines for those who violate the regulations."

The arrests were made on Thursday by agents from a specialist organised crime team and follow an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in last November. He was released pending additional investigations.