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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 waste in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in association with the massive pile of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a recent report which uncovered the existence of in excess of 500 unlawful tips across England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body commented that the arrests were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "key step" in continuing probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Size of the Issue

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, located between the river Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain around 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is made up of what looks to be processed residential rubbish, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, tyres and assorted domestic items.

It represents just a single of 517 unlawful tips across the country, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The actual number of such bigger dumps is likely to be higher, as the regulatory authority has previously acknowledged it does not maintain information on volume for all unauthorized site.

Most these sites are in countryside settings, frequently hidden, and on land that should be agricultural property.

Criminal Operations

Law enforcement say a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are making profit by asking for much less than licensed operators to accept and bury waste.

Businesses have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed disposal sites, contingent on the amount and category of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Anger

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington dump started in recent weeks following worries over the potential of fire and the consequences that would have on the adjacent highway.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been awarded the job to handle the area over the coming 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the national environmental crime team stated that the body would be looking to recoup the clean-up funds under asset recovery legislation from any individual successfully convicted at the termination of its ongoing case.

She noted that these apprehensions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and permit the agency to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated assault on our natural surroundings and officials empathize with the local outrage at this terrible act," she remarked.

A senior official supported the arrests, stating: "This unlawful deposit of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has caused considerable harm to the environment and anguish to the nearby residents.

"The authorities is dedicated to stamping out this kind of illegal activity in the nation, by augmenting funds to combat waste crime, hiring more personnel and introducing stricter controls and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by agents from a regional organised crime unit and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was let go awaiting additional enquiries.