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A pair of individuals have been detained as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in the town of Slough in association with the massive heap of waste dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions follow a recent revelation which revealed the existence of over 500 unlawful dumps throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency said that the detentions were for ecological and proceeds of crime offences and were a "crucial step" in ongoing probes. The two individuals have been let go on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to house about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of garbage is made up of what appears to be sorted household refuse, chopped up plastic materials, polystyrene, tires and assorted domestic objects.

It is just a single of 517 unlawful tips in England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total amount of such bigger locations is likely to be greater, as the regulatory body has in the past acknowledged it does not hold data on weight for each illegal dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in agricultural settings, often out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable property.

Organised Activity

Authorities state numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are making profit by demanding far less than lawful operators to take and bury waste.

Companies have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed landfill sites, based on the quantity and type of material they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Outrage

Preparatory work to clear the Kidlington area site commenced in recent weeks following fears over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste removal firm has been awarded the contract to remediate the location over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government environment team stated that the authority would be seeking to claim back the remediation costs under proceeds of crime legislation from any party ultimately found guilty at the conclusion of its ongoing inquiry.

She further stated that these detentions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more avenues to understand exactly what occurred and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized site at the site was an shocking and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and we share the local anger at this terrible offence," she stated.

A government minister supported the detentions, commenting: "This unlawful tipping of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has resulted in substantial harm to the natural world and anguish to the surrounding population.

"Our government is committed to eliminating this type of illegal activity throughout the country, by boosting funds to combat environmental crime, employing more staff and enacting tougher measures and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The arrests were made on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated crime squad and are in addition to an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was set free subject to further investigations.