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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the huge mound of waste deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a prior report which revealed the existence of more than 500 unauthorized tips throughout England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the regulatory agency stated that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering violations and constituted a "crucial step" in continuing inquiries. Both men have been let go on bail.

Magnitude of the Problem

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

This heap of garbage is made up of what appears to be sorted residential waste, chopped up plastics, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and other domestic articles.

It constitutes just a single of 517 illegal sites in England, at minimum 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 metric tons of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall amount of such bigger dumps is probably to be larger, as the environment agency has earlier stated it does not maintain records on volume for all unauthorized site.

A large proportion of these sites are in agricultural areas, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Authorities state numerous are managed by criminal organizations, who are making money by asking for far less than legitimate firms to receive and bury garbage.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, based on the quantity and nature of material they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Anger

Initial work to remove the Kidlington area location started earlier this month amid worries over the threat of blaze and the impact that would have on the close-by major road.

A private waste clearance contractor has been granted the task to remediate the site over the coming 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the national environment division commented that the agency would be aiming to recoup the remediation costs under proceeds of crime acts from anyone ultimately convicted at the conclusion of its current investigation.

She added that the recent apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable authorities to "pursue more avenues to determine in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and calculated attack on our environment and the authorities understand the public's frustration at this terrible act," she stated.

A cabinet minister welcomed the arrests, commenting: "The illegal deposit of rubbish at this location is utterly appalling and has caused considerable detriment to the ecology and anguish to the surrounding residents.

"Our authorities is pledged to stamping out this kind of criminality in the nation, by increasing financing to combat waste crime, recruiting more officers and implementing more severe measures and penalties for those who flout the rules."

The apprehensions were made on the specified day by personnel from a specialist serious crime squad and come after an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was set free pending further investigations.