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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an probe into the dumping of thousands of tons of waste in a field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough in connection with the enormous pile of rubbish deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests come after a prior report which uncovered the existence of in excess of 500 unlawful sites throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment body said that the apprehensions were for environment-related and financial offences and were a "crucial step" in active probes. The apprehended men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to house about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what looks to be sorted household rubbish, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, automobile tires and other everyday items.

It is just a single of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at least 11 of which hold over 20,000 tonnes of garbage. These encompass a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total amount of such bigger sites is likely to be larger, as the environment agency has previously stated it does not hold information on weight for each unlawful dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in rural locations, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as arable property.

Organized Operations

Authorities report many are operated by organized crime groups, who are making money by asking for far less than legitimate firms to receive and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to incur gate fees to use lawful disposal sites, based on the volume and type of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Frustration

Preparation efforts to remove the Kidlington area dump started earlier this month following fears over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby highway.

A contracted clean-up company has been given the contract to handle the area over the next 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national environment division said that the agency would be seeking to recoup the clean-up expenses under proceeds of crime legislation from anyone prosecuted at the termination of its active case.

She further stated that these detentions would help "push the probe forward" and permit authorities to "pursue more avenues to ascertain in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"The illegal site at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated affront on our ecology and officials share the public's frustration at this egregious act," she remarked.

A cabinet minister welcomed the actions, stating: "This unauthorized tipping of garbage at the site is utterly appalling and has resulted in substantial harm to the ecology and upset to the local residents.

"Our government is committed to stamping out this kind of criminality in the UK, by increasing financing to combat waste crime, employing more personnel and implementing stricter controls and penalties for those who violate the law."

The arrests were carried out on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional crime team and are in addition to an prior detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in last November. He was set free awaiting additional inquiries.