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Two men have been taken into custody as a component of an probe into the dumping of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the massive heap of rubbish dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests come after a previous revelation which uncovered the presence of more than 500 illegal dumps across England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the environment agency said that the arrests were for environmental and financial crimes and constituted a "key step" in active probes. The apprehended men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to hold around 21,000 metric tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of waste is consists of what appears to be sorted household waste, fragmented plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household items.

It constitutes just one of 517 unauthorized sites throughout England, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 metric tons of waste. They feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall number of such larger sites is likely to be higher, as the environment body has previously indicated it does not maintain data on weight for all unauthorized site.

A large proportion of such locations are in rural areas, frequently hidden, and on land that is zoned as farm property.

Organised Operations

Police say a significant number are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating money by asking for significantly less than licensed firms to take and landfill waste.

Businesses have to pay disposal fees to use lawful disposal sites, contingent on the volume and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Public Outrage

Preparatory work to remove the affected dump commenced earlier this month following worries over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the adjacent major road.

A commercial clean-up contractor has been granted the task to remediate the area over the coming 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the country's regulatory team said that the authority would be looking to claim back the clean-up expenses under confiscation laws from any party found guilty at the end of its current investigation.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "move the probe forward" and permit authorities to "follow more leads to ascertain exactly what happened and who was involved".

"The unlawful site at the site was an shocking and intentional attack on our ecology and officials understand the local outrage at this egregious offence," she said.

A cabinet official welcomed the actions, adding: "The illegal tipping of rubbish at this location is disgraceful and has resulted in considerable damage to the natural world and anguish to the local community.

"The administration is dedicated to stamping out this kind of illegal activity in the country, by increasing financing to address waste crime, recruiting more staff and introducing more severe controls and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were made on Thursday by personnel from a specialist crime unit and follow an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was released pending additional inquiries.