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Two men have been detained as part of an probe into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tons of refuse in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in connection with the massive pile of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests follow a previous revelation which exposed the presence of more than 500 unauthorized sites across the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment body said that the apprehensions were for ecological and financial crimes and constituted a "vital step" in ongoing probes. Both men have been let go on bail.

Scale of the Problem

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is believed to contain about 21,000 tonnes of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is made up of what appears to be processed household waste, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, automobile tires and assorted household objects.

It represents just one of 517 unlawful sites across the country, at minimum 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total amount of such bigger sites is probably to be greater, as the regulatory authority has earlier indicated it does not maintain information on tonnage for all unlawful dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in countryside areas, typically concealed, and on land that is zoned as farm ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Police state numerous are run by criminal organizations, who are generating cash by asking for significantly less than licensed operators to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Firms have to be liable for gate fees to use licensed waste facilities, depending on the amount and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Preparatory operations to clear the affected location started in recent weeks due to worries over the risk of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by highway.

A private waste removal company has been awarded the job to remediate the area over the coming 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the national environmental crime unit said that the authority would be seeking to claim back the clean-up costs under confiscation laws from any individual ultimately convicted at the termination of its current inquiry.

She noted that this week's detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what transpired and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized site at Kidlington was an appalling and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and the authorities share the local outrage at this horrific crime," she stated.

A senior representative supported the arrests, stating: "This illegal dumping of waste at this location is utterly appalling and has resulted in significant detriment to the natural world and upset to the nearby residents.

"The authorities is pledged to eradicating this kind of crime throughout the country, by augmenting resources to address environmental crime, employing more officers and introducing more severe checks and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The detentions were carried out on the specified day by officers from a specialist organised crime squad and follow an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in November. He was let go awaiting further inquiries.