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Two men have been detained as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of thousands of tons of refuse in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in association with the enormous heap of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions come after a previous report which exposed the presence of more than 500 unlawful dumps across England, featuring at least 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory authorities said that the detentions were for environmental and proceeds of crime offences and were a "crucial step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been let go on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The dump in the Kidlington area, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to hold approximately 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what seems to be processed household rubbish, fragmented plastic items, Styrofoam, tyres and other domestic objects.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful dumps throughout England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tons of waste. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The total number of such major sites is likely to be greater, as the regulatory authority has earlier indicated it does not maintain data on volume for every unlawful site.

The majority these sites are in rural areas, frequently concealed, and on land that is intended to be farm property.

Organised Enterprise

Authorities say numerous are managed by organised crime gangs, who are generating profit by charging much less than legitimate companies to take and landfill rubbish.

Businesses have to incur site fees to use lawful waste facilities, depending on the volume and category of material they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Anger

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

A private waste removal contractor has been given the task to deal with the site over the next 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the national environmental crime unit said that the authority would be seeking to claim back the clean-up costs under confiscation legislation from anyone successfully prosecuted at the conclusion of its active case.

She added that these arrests would help "move the probe forward" and permit officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to understand in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized tip at this location was an shocking and intentional attack on our natural surroundings and the authorities understand the community's outrage at this horrific act," she said.

A cabinet representative supported the detentions, commenting: "This unauthorized dumping of garbage at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused significant harm to the environment and upset to the surrounding population.

"Our government is pledged to eradicating this category of illegal activity in the UK, by increasing financing to combat waste crime, hiring more staff and enacting tougher measures and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional organised crime unit and follow an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was released awaiting further inquiries.