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Two men have been arrested as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough in connection with the massive heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a recent investigation which revealed the operation of over 500 unlawful dumps in England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the environment authorities commented that the apprehensions were for ecological and financial offences and constituted a "key step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Situation

The dump in near Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to house around 21,000 metric tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what looks to be processed domestic waste, fragmented plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and various domestic items.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at least 11 of which contain over 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total figure of such major locations is likely to be higher, as the regulatory agency has in the past stated it does not hold records on volume for each unlawful tip.

Most these sites are in countryside areas, often out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable property.

Criminal Activity

Police say many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by demanding much less than legitimate operators to accept and landfill waste.

Firms have to pay site fees to use licensed disposal sites, depending on the volume and category of refuse they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Anger

Preparation operations to remove the affected location began earlier this month due to worries over the threat of fire and the effect that would have on the nearby highway.

A contracted waste removal company has been granted the contract to remediate the site over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the country's regulatory unit commented that the body would be aiming to recoup the clearance costs under asset recovery acts from any individual ultimately found guilty at the termination of its active investigation.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and allow authorities to "pursue more lines of inquiry to understand precisely what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated assault on our ecology and we empathize with the community's frustration at this horrific offence," she said.

A senior official praised the arrests, stating: "This unauthorized dumping of garbage at this location is disgraceful and has resulted in considerable harm to the environment and distress to the local residents.

"Our administration is pledged to eliminating this kind of crime throughout the country, by boosting resources to tackle environmental crime, recruiting more officers and introducing more severe checks and fines for those who flout the law."

The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by officers from a specialist organised crime unit and follow an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in November. He was let go awaiting further investigations.