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Two men have been taken into custody as an element of an probe into the illegal deposit of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough in association with the enormous heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a previous investigation which exposed the existence of more than 500 unauthorized tips throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environmental agency commented that the detentions were for ecological and money laundering offences and represented a "vital step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on conditional release.

Size of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to contain approximately 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of waste is consists of what seems to be processed residential waste, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and other everyday items.

It is just one of 517 illegal tips in the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual amount of such larger locations is likely to be larger, as the regulatory agency has previously acknowledged it does not possess data on tonnage for all unauthorized tip.

Most such locations are in rural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable ground.

Organized Activity

Police report numerous are run by criminal organizations, who are making money by demanding significantly less than legitimate operators to take and dispose of garbage.

Companies have to incur site fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the volume and type of waste they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Initial operations to clean up the affected location started recently due to fears over the threat of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A private waste removal firm has been granted the task to deal with the location over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's environmental crime team commented that the authority would be aiming to recover the clean-up funds under confiscation legislation from any party successfully prosecuted at the conclusion of its current case.

She added that the recent arrests would help "push the probe forward" and enable the agency to "pursue more avenues to ascertain in detail what happened and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and calculated affront on our natural surroundings and we share the community's frustration at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A government official supported the detentions, adding: "The unauthorized deposit of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to considerable damage to the natural world and distress to the surrounding population.

"The administration is pledged to eradicating this type of illegal activity throughout the UK, by boosting funds to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and introducing tougher controls and penalties for those who violate the law."

The arrests were made on Thursday by agents from a dedicated crime squad and come after an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in last November. He was set free subject to additional investigations.