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Two men have been arrested as an element of an probe into the dumping of thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in connection with the huge heap of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests follow a prior investigation which exposed the presence of more than 500 unlawful tips throughout England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment authorities said that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering violations and were a "crucial step" in ongoing investigations. The apprehended men have been released on bail.

Size of the Situation

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to hold about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of garbage is consists of what looks to be sorted domestic waste, shredded plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted household articles.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal tips across England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of garbage. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual figure of such larger locations is expected to be higher, as the regulatory agency has in the past acknowledged it does not possess information on weight for each unlawful site.

Most such locations are in agricultural settings, often concealed, and on land that is intended to be farm property.

Organised Activity

Law enforcement state many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by charging much less than licensed firms to take and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to be liable for gate fees to use licensed waste facilities, based on the amount and category of waste they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Initial efforts to remove the Kidlington area location started in recent weeks amid concerns over the potential of blaze and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private waste clearance contractor has been awarded the job to deal with the area over the coming 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the government environment team stated that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clean-up costs under confiscation laws from anyone ultimately convicted at the end of its current case.

She added that this week's apprehensions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit the agency to "pursue more leads to understand precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and intentional affront on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the community's outrage at this egregious act," she said.

A government representative welcomed the detentions, stating: "The unauthorized deposit of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has caused considerable harm to the environment and upset to the local residents.

"Our administration is dedicated to eradicating this kind of criminality in the nation, by augmenting financing to address environmental crime, hiring more staff and enacting stricter checks and fines for those who flout the regulations."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by officers from a specialist organised crime team and come after an earlier arrest of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in November. He was released pending further enquiries.