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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of thousands of tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in relation with the enormous heap of garbage tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests follow a prior investigation which revealed the existence of over 500 unlawful tips across the country of England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the regulatory agency said that the arrests were for environment-related and proceeds of crime offences and were a "key step" in continuing investigations. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of waste is composed of what appears to be sorted residential rubbish, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and other everyday items.

It represents just one example of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 metric tons of waste. These encompass a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The overall amount of such larger sites is probably to be higher, as the environment authority has in the past acknowledged it does not possess data on volume for all unlawful dump.

The majority such locations are in countryside areas, often out of sight, and on land that is intended to be farm ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement say many are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning money by asking for much less than legitimate companies to take and landfill garbage.

Firms have to be liable for gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, contingent on the volume and nature of refuse they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparation work to clear the Kidlington site began earlier this month following fears over the risk of combustion and the consequences that would have on the adjacent major road.

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

An compliance manager for the country's environment team stated that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clearance funds under asset recovery laws from anyone ultimately prosecuted at the termination of its current case.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "push the inquiry forward" and enable authorities to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"The unlawful tip at this location was an shocking and calculated attack on our environment and the authorities understand the public's outrage at this horrific crime," she stated.

A government minister supported the arrests, adding: "This unauthorized dumping of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to considerable harm to the natural world and anguish to the local community.

"Our authorities is committed to eradicating this kind of illegal activity across the country, by increasing funds to combat environmental crime, recruiting more officers and implementing tougher checks and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The arrests were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional crime team and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was released subject to further enquiries.