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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the illegal deposit of thousands of tonnes of refuse in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the enormous heap of garbage dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a recent investigation which uncovered the existence of more than 500 illegal sites across England, including at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory body commented that the arrests were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "crucial step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Situation

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is composed of what seems to be sorted residential refuse, shredded plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household objects.

It is just one example of 517 illegal tips across the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of waste. They feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual number of such larger sites is likely to be higher, as the regulatory agency has in the past stated it does not maintain information on weight for each unlawful dump.

The majority sites are in countryside locations, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural land.

Organised Activity

Police report numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are generating profit by demanding significantly less than lawful companies to take and bury waste.

Businesses have to incur gate fees to use licensed disposal sites, contingent on the quantity and nature of waste they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparation operations to remove the affected dump started in recent weeks following worries over the threat of fire and the consequences that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted waste removal firm has been given the job to handle the site over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the national environment team said that the authority would be aiming to recoup the clean-up costs under confiscation laws from anyone successfully prosecuted at the end of its current investigation.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "move the investigation forward" and permit officials to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"This unlawful dump at the site was an shocking and intentional assault on our environment and we empathize with the community's outrage at this terrible offence," she remarked.

A government minister welcomed the actions, adding: "This unauthorized tipping of rubbish at this location is appalling and has caused substantial damage to the ecology and upset to the surrounding community.

"Our administration is pledged to eliminating this category of crime throughout the nation, by boosting funds to tackle waste crime, employing more officers and implementing stricter checks and sanctions for those who flout the regulations."

The apprehensions were made on the specified day by officers from a regional organised crime team and follow an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was set free subject to more enquiries.