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A pair of individuals have been arrested as an element of an inquiry into the dumping of several thousand of metric tons of rubbish in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in the town of Slough in association with the huge pile of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a prior investigation which revealed the existence of more than 500 illegal dumps across the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environmental body stated that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime crimes and constituted a "key step" in ongoing inquiries. Both men have been released on conditional release.

Size of the Issue

The dump in near Kidlington, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is made up of what appears to be treated household rubbish, shredded plastics, Styrofoam, tyres and other everyday items.

It constitutes just one of 517 unauthorized dumps throughout the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. They include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The overall figure of such bigger sites is probably to be larger, as the environment agency has earlier stated it does not maintain information on weight for each unlawful dump.

Most these sites are in rural locations, typically concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural land.

Organised Enterprise

Law enforcement state a significant number are managed by criminal organizations, who are generating profit by charging far less than lawful companies to accept and landfill rubbish.

Firms have to incur disposal fees to use licensed waste facilities, depending on the quantity and type of refuse they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Preparatory work to clean up the Kidlington area location commenced in recent weeks due to worries over the potential of blaze and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste clearance contractor has been awarded the task to handle the location over the coming 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the national environment division said that the body would be looking to claim back the clearance costs under proceeds of crime legislation from any party ultimately found guilty at the end of its ongoing investigation.

She noted that these detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and enable the agency to "investigate more leads to ascertain precisely what happened and who was a party to it".

"This illegal dump at the site was an shocking and deliberate attack on our ecology and the authorities share the local anger at this terrible offence," she remarked.

A government minister praised the actions, commenting: "The unauthorized deposit of waste at the site is utterly appalling and has caused significant damage to the natural world and distress to the surrounding population.

"Our administration is pledged to eradicating this kind of crime across the UK, by increasing funds to combat illegal dumping, hiring more officers and introducing more severe measures and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The detentions were executed on the specified day by agents from a specialist crime unit and are in addition to an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was set free subject to more investigations.