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Two men have been arrested as an element of an investigation into the dumping of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the huge pile of waste dumped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a previous revelation which uncovered the existence of in excess of 500 illegal dumps in England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body said that the apprehensions were for ecological and money laundering violations and were a "crucial step" in ongoing probes. Both men have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is thought to contain about 21,000 tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of garbage is composed of what looks to be treated residential refuse, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and assorted everyday objects.

It is just one of 517 illegal sites throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tons of waste. They encompass a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total amount of such major dumps is likely to be higher, as the regulatory agency has earlier acknowledged it does not possess data on tonnage for each unlawful tip.

A large proportion of sites are in rural settings, frequently concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural property.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement report a significant number are run by organised crime gangs, who are earning cash by asking for much less than licensed operators to take and bury rubbish.

Companies have to pay disposal fees to use licensed landfill sites, depending on the volume and type of material they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Frustration

Initial efforts to remove the affected site commenced in recent weeks due to worries over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A private clean-up company has been given the contract to handle the area over the coming 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the national environmental crime team commented that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clearance funds under asset recovery legislation from anyone convicted at the conclusion of its ongoing investigation.

She added that these detentions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and allow officials to "follow more leads to determine precisely what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an appalling and deliberate attack on our environment and officials empathize with the public's frustration at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A government representative welcomed the actions, stating: "The unauthorized deposit of waste at the site is utterly appalling and has caused substantial detriment to the natural world and distress to the surrounding community.

"Our authorities is pledged to stamping out this category of illegal activity in the nation, by augmenting financing to tackle illegal dumping, hiring more personnel and introducing stricter controls and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The detentions were made on Thursday by agents from a specialist organised crime squad and come after an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was let go subject to additional inquiries.