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Two individuals have been arrested as part of an probe into the illegal deposit of thousands of tonnes of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Officials stated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in connection with the enormous heap of waste deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions come after a recent report which exposed the presence of in excess of 500 unauthorized dumps in England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A official for the environment body commented that the arrests were for environment-related and money laundering violations and represented a "key step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been let go on bail.

Size of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to contain about 21,000 tons of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is consists of what appears to be treated domestic refuse, shredded plastics, Styrofoam, automobile tires and other everyday articles.

It is just a single of 517 illegal dumps throughout the country, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. These include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total figure of such larger locations is expected to be larger, as the regulatory authority has in the past indicated it does not possess data on tonnage for every illegal dump.

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

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement say numerous are operated by criminal organizations, who are making money by asking for far less than licensed operators to receive and landfill waste.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use lawful disposal sites, based on the amount and nature of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Initial work to remove the Kidlington area dump started recently amid worries over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.

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

An compliance official for the government regulatory unit said that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clean-up costs under confiscation laws from anyone ultimately convicted at the end of its active case.

She added that the recent apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and permit officials to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what happened and who was involved".

"This illegal dump at the site was an appalling and deliberate assault on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the local anger at this terrible offence," she stated.

A government official supported the actions, stating: "This illegal deposit of waste at this location is appalling and has caused considerable harm to the environment and upset to the surrounding population.

"Our government is committed to eradicating this kind of criminality throughout the country, by boosting financing to address environmental crime, recruiting more officers and enacting tougher controls and fines for those who flout the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by agents from a regional serious crime team and are in addition to an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area area in November. He was released awaiting additional investigations.