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Two men have been taken into custody as an element of an inquiry into the tipping of many thousands of tons of refuse in a open field in the county of 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 Slough, Berkshire in connection with the huge pile of waste dumped near Kidlington.

These arrests follow a recent revelation which revealed the operation of over 500 illegal dumps across England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental body stated that the arrests were for environment-related and financial crimes and represented a "vital step" in ongoing inquiries. The two individuals have been released on pre-trial release.

Size of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tonnes of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of waste is made up of what seems to be treated domestic refuse, fragmented plastic items, expanded polystyrene, tires and various household items.

It is just one of 517 unlawful sites in the country, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They encompass 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 overall number of such larger locations is likely to be larger, as the environmental authority has previously stated it does not maintain information on tonnage for each illegal site.

A large proportion of these sites are in countryside settings, typically out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable property.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement state a significant number are run by organised crime gangs, who are earning profit by demanding far less than licensed firms to take and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to pay site fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the amount and type of waste they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparatory operations to clear the affected location started in recent weeks amid fears over the threat of blaze and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial waste clearance firm has been awarded the task to deal with the location over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the country's regulatory unit commented that the agency would be looking to recoup the clearance expenses under asset recovery legislation from any individual found guilty at the end of its current case.

She noted that these apprehensions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "pursue more leads to ascertain in detail what happened and who was implicated".

"This unlawful dump at this location was an shocking and intentional affront on our natural surroundings and the authorities empathize with the local anger at this horrific offence," she said.

A cabinet official praised the detentions, commenting: "The illegal deposit of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has led to significant harm to the environment and anguish to the surrounding community.

"Our authorities is pledged to stamping out this type of criminality throughout the UK, by augmenting financing to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more personnel and introducing more severe checks and penalties for those who flout the regulations."

The detentions were executed on a recent Thursday by personnel from a dedicated organised crime team and are in addition to an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was set free pending further investigations.