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Two men have been taken into custody as a component of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of tons of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in association with the massive mound of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a prior revelation which exposed the presence of more than 500 unauthorized dumps across England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities said that the arrests were for environment-related and financial crimes and were a "key step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been set free on bail.

Size of the Problem

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to contain around 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of rubbish is composed of what appears to be processed residential waste, shredded plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and various domestic items.

It is just a single of 517 unauthorized sites across England, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The total figure of such bigger sites is expected to be higher, as the regulatory authority has previously stated it does not hold data on tonnage for all unlawful site.

Most sites are in agricultural areas, often hidden, and on land that is intended to be farm land.

Criminal Operations

Police say many are run by organized crime groups, who are generating cash by charging far less than lawful companies to accept and bury garbage.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use legitimate disposal sites, depending on the volume and category of waste they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Frustration

Preparatory operations to clean up the Kidlington area site commenced in recent weeks due to worries over the risk of blaze and the impact that would have on the close-by highway.

A commercial waste clearance contractor has been awarded the contract to handle the site over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the country's regulatory team stated that the authority would be seeking to recover the remediation funds under confiscation laws from any party successfully found guilty at the end of its ongoing case.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow the agency to "follow more avenues to ascertain precisely what transpired and who was implicated".

"This illegal site at the site was an atrocious and deliberate affront on our natural surroundings and the authorities empathize with the public's frustration at this terrible crime," she said.

A government minister welcomed the detentions, adding: "The unlawful deposit of garbage at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to significant detriment to the environment and upset to the local residents.

"Our government is dedicated to eradicating this kind of illegal activity throughout the nation, by increasing resources to combat environmental crime, recruiting more personnel and enacting tougher controls and penalties for those who violate the rules."

The detentions were executed on the specified day by officers from a specialist crime team and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in last November. He was set free subject to additional enquiries.