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Two men have been arrested as a component of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of several thousand of metric tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough in connection with the enormous mound of rubbish dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests follow a prior revelation which exposed the presence of in excess of 500 unauthorized tips in England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory body commented that the apprehensions were for environmental and financial crimes and represented a "vital step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Size of the Problem

The illegal site in Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is thought to hold about 21,000 tons of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is consists of what appears to be sorted residential rubbish, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household items.

It represents just one of 517 illegal sites across England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total amount of such major locations is likely to be higher, as the environmental body has earlier acknowledged it does not maintain information on volume for each illegal dump.

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

Criminal Operations

Authorities report numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are generating money by charging much less than licensed firms to accept and dispose of waste.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the amount and type of material they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington area dump commenced earlier this month amid fears over the risk of combustion and the impact that would have on the nearby highway.

A commercial waste clearance company has been given the job to handle the location over the coming 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the country's environmental crime division said that the agency would be looking to claim back the clearance costs under asset recovery acts from any party ultimately convicted at the conclusion of its ongoing investigation.

She further stated that these apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more avenues to determine in detail what happened and who was involved".

"This illegal tip at the site was an appalling and calculated attack on our environment and the authorities understand the community's anger at this terrible offence," she stated.

A senior minister praised the arrests, stating: "This illegal deposit of rubbish at the site is appalling and has caused substantial damage to the ecology and anguish to the local population.

"Our authorities is pledged to stamping out this type of crime in the country, by boosting financing to combat illegal dumping, hiring more officers and introducing more severe controls and sanctions for those who flout the rules."

The arrests were executed on Thursday by personnel from a regional crime team and follow an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was set free subject to additional inquiries.