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Two men have been detained as an element of an probe into the dumping of many thousands of tons of rubbish in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in the town of Slough in connection with the huge heap of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a prior report which revealed the presence of in excess of 500 unlawful sites throughout England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental body said that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime violations and were a "vital step" in continuing inquiries. The two individuals have been released on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Issue

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

This heap of waste is made up of what appears to be treated residential rubbish, shredded plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and other everyday objects.

It represents just one of 517 unlawful sites in England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tonnes of waste. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The actual amount of such major dumps is likely to be larger, as the environment body has in the past acknowledged it does not hold information on volume for every illegal tip.

Most such locations are in countryside settings, often out of sight, and on land that should be farm ground.

Organized Operations

Authorities report many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making money by charging significantly less than legitimate operators to receive and landfill waste.

Firms have to incur gate fees to use legitimate landfill sites, based on the amount and nature of material they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparatory efforts to clean up the affected dump commenced recently following fears over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste clearance firm has been granted the task to deal with the site over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the country's regulatory team commented that the authority would be looking to claim back the clean-up funds under confiscation laws from anyone prosecuted at the end of its current investigation.

She noted that the recent arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "follow more avenues to understand precisely what transpired and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at this location was an shocking and calculated attack on our natural surroundings and we understand the community's anger at this egregious crime," she said.

A government minister praised the actions, commenting: "This illegal dumping of rubbish at the site is utterly appalling and has caused substantial damage to the ecology and anguish to the nearby population.

"Our authorities is dedicated to stamping out this kind of illegal activity across the nation, by boosting funds to address environmental crime, employing more staff and introducing tougher measures and penalties for those who break the law."

The detentions were carried out on Thursday by personnel from a specialist crime unit and follow an prior detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in last November. He was set free awaiting more investigations.