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A pair of individuals have been detained as an element of an investigation into the illegal deposit of many thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in the town of Slough in relation with the huge heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a recent report which revealed the existence of more than 500 unlawful tips in England, including at least 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environmental agency said that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering crimes and constituted a "vital step" in ongoing investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The dump in near Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to house approximately 21,000 metric tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of waste is made up of what appears to be processed residential waste, shredded plastics, Styrofoam, automobile tires and assorted household items.

It represents just one example of 517 unlawful dumps throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which hold over 20,000 tons of garbage. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The overall number of such bigger dumps is probably to be larger, as the environment body has previously stated it does not possess records on volume for all unlawful tip.

A large proportion of such locations are in rural areas, frequently concealed, and on land that should be farm property.

Organised Enterprise

Law enforcement report many are managed by organized crime groups, who are generating money by asking for much less than lawful firms to receive and bury garbage.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed waste facilities, based on the volume and category of material they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Initial operations to clear the Kidlington location began earlier this month amid concerns over the risk of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by major road.

A private waste clearance company has been granted the task to remediate the site over the next 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the government environmental crime division stated that the authority would be looking to recoup the clean-up costs under proceeds of crime legislation from any party successfully convicted at the end of its current inquiry.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable authorities to "follow more leads to ascertain in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful site at Kidlington was an shocking and intentional assault on our environment and we empathize with the local frustration at this horrific crime," she remarked.

A cabinet minister praised the actions, commenting: "This illegal deposit of garbage at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in significant detriment to the environment and upset to the surrounding residents.

"Our government is pledged to eliminating this category of crime in the nation, by boosting funds to address environmental crime, hiring more personnel and implementing tougher controls and penalties for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were made on Thursday by personnel from a dedicated serious crime squad and come after an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was set free pending further enquiries.